The House's We Live In
by Chrismasters
Summary: the tale of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, ended when they waved their heartfelt felt goodbys to their children. But When their story ended, the next generation's Began and as they all go through 7 Years at Hogwarts , they will soon discover that the adventure their parents went on was only the prolog to what's to come. ( please enjoy and don't forget to review )
1. The Train Ride

**Authors note... This story has been fully Edited. and thanks to the help of Lena Phoria Dominique and every other French character will be speaking in a cool french ascent Also I want to say thank you all for the massive support, your reviews are making me want to wright that much more and I am Hoping that I can Gain more reviews from you all as the story go's on:)  
**

Rose took a deep breath, as she looked back at her family and gave them a final wave goodbye. As excited as she was, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous as well. She had spent years reading "Hogwarts – A History," practically every night before bed. And now, she will actually get to go there. As she let out a deep breath, she took her first step onto the train. Once she was safely aboard, the train doors came to a close._"I guess it's too late to make a break for it,"_ Rose thought, letting out one more breath before making her way down the aisle of the train.

"Where could those two be?" Rose grumbled, as she began checking each passenger the tenth compartment, Rose was about to call it quits when she suddenly caught sight of a boy with a familiar, messy mop of black hair. The boy was standing near one of the compartments several feet away and then shouted, "Albus! Where have you been? I have been looking everywhere for you!" she said, with mock scolding, as she then pulled him in for a hug.

Albus, who was totally confused by the unexpected scolding and warm hug that followed, stood tense for a moment. Then, realizing who it was, he slowly relaxed into his cousin's embrace. "Rose, you scared the Patronus out of me! Scolding me and then hugging me like that? I thought you were mum! I thought she had jumped onto the train at the last second and decided to take me back home, to lock me in my room for the rest of my young life," Albus said with a nervous laugh.

"'zhat's' z'e way to keep z'inking, Albus. Become overly nervous so you can become a 'ufflepuff," teased a French-accented voice from one of the compartments.

"Dominique!" Rose shouted. At the sight of each other, Rose and Dominique began squealing loudly in delight, as they gave each other crushing hugs, oblivious to the fact that they were disturbing the other passengers with their high-pitched squeals.

"Rose, eet's been far too long," said Dominique, as she pulled Rose into their compartment.

"So, Dom, how have you been?" asked Rose.

"Oh, you know how I love to shop! I shop a lee'ttle over here and a lee'ttle over zere. Like mum always said,_ "You can never have too many clo'zes._" In fact, feast your eyes on my lee'ttle baby," said Dominique, as if she was speaking to a small child. Smiling, she pulled out a small, hot pink bag.

"It's not very practical, is it?" said Rose. "What are you going to carry in that thing, a single quill?" she asked skeptically, which caused Dominique to roll her eyes.

_"_And who says being styl'eesh and practical can't go 'and in 'and?" said Dominique, as she reached into her bag. Rose and Albus' eyes grew wide watching Dominique's arm completely disappear into the bag.

"Oh, my God! It's a bottomless bag!" Rose squealed.

"Wicked. But I'm not a big fan of the color," said Albus, causing Dominique to roll her eyes, yet again.

"Oh, 'ush up, Albus," Dominique said, snapping her fingers at him in disgust.

"Yeah, yeah," Albus grumbled, as he turned his head to look out the window of their compartment.

Before Rose could say anything further, the train started to move. Nearly every kid on the train rushed to the windows and began waving goodbye to their families for the last time. Then slowly they all returned to their seats and quickly settled in for the long ride.

A couple of hours had gone by and Rose had been reading the new copy of "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One." Meanwhile, Dominique had been working on her nails and Albus was playing Chocolate Frogs cards.

"Okay. I can't sit here in silence anymore. Rose, which house do you wanna get into?" Albus asked anxiously.

Rose looked up from her book, gazed thoughtfully at Albus and replied,

"Well, I would love to be in Gryfiindor, but Ravenclaw would be good too. What about you, Dom?"

"I'm not sure. I z'ink I would be fine wiz any 'ouse, actually. 'owever, I z'ink Albus well be put ee'n ze Slytherin, no" Dominique said with a smirk.

_"_That's not funny! Don't jinx me, Dominique!" yelled Albus, which made Rose and Dominique start to laugh. "Let's get off this subject now. How about a round of Exploding Snap?" suggested Albus, as he held up the deck of cards.

Right in the middle of their second hand, a woman pushing a snack trolley came by. "Need anything, Dearies?" she asked, sweetly.

Rose was surprised that there was anything left on the trolley. After they finished making their choices, they quickly inventoried their purchases: Three packs of beans of every flavor; six Licorice Wands and about a dozen Chocolate Frogs. after Rose sat back down in her seat, she attempted to eat one of her Chocolate Frogs, but it wouldn't stay still and be a good frog. "Ah, ha! Gotcha!" said Rose, catching the frog as it tried to jump away again. Albus and Dominique began laughing at their cousin's match with the elusive chocolate.

With his mouth still full of food, Albus began speaking, "So, Dom, I've been meaning to ask you why you're even going to Hogwarts. Why not Beauxbatons since you live in France and all?"

"I have been wondering that myself," Rose added, quietly.

Dominique smiled and replied, "When mum got pregnant with Victora, she and dad had made an agreement z'at z'ey would raise z'eir kids in France, near mum's family. 'owever, een return, we get to go to 'ogwarts wiz the rest of the Weasley's." Still smiling, she continued, "Besides, I like standing out too much. eef I went to Beauxbatons, I would be just another pretty face. but ee'f I go to 'ogwarts, I will really stand out," said Dominique, triumphantly, as she gave her best, award-winning smile.

As shallow as that may have sounded, Dominique did have a point. Even among the Weasley's, she stood out like a marigold amongst a bed of red roses.

Thanks to her Veela blood, she had golden locks instead of wild red hair, like the rest of the Weasleys, with the exceptions of Roxanne, Fred, Louis and Victoria.

Rose couldn't think of even one time when Dominique had a bad hair day. And she couldn't imagine what would happen if she did. However, no matter how hard Rose tried, she was always a little jealous of Dominique's looks.

After another hour had passed, the cousin's compartment door slid open and a boy with jet black hair poked his head in.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit with you guys? My compartment is getting a little crowded," asked the boy, nervously.

_"_Sure, mate, take a seat," Albus replied. The boy gave everyone a grateful smile and then sat in the empty seat next to Albus.

"I'm Rose Weasley and these are my cousins, Dominique Weasley and Albus Potter," said Rose, thinking that her mother would be very proud of her excellent social skills.

The boy looked completely zoned out for a moment.

Then his face suddenly lit up, as he said, "I'm Jess Davies. If you don't mind me asking, do any of you happen to know Hermione Weasley?"

Questions about her family always caught Rose off guard whenever she introduced herself by her full name. They would always ask about her Uncle Harry or even her father; however, this was the first time anyone had asked about her mum.

"I do, actually. She's my mum," Rose replied, awkwardly.

Jess' smile grew. "I have been a big fan of your mother's work," he replied.

Rose smiled. It wasn't every day that someone her own age knew about S.P.E.W, let alone found it interesting. Rose loved her mum's career. She would spend parts of her summers helping the newly-freed elves find new jobs and homes.

Rose began, "Really? What do y-._.."_

But Dominique interrupted with, "So, Jess, you're a first year as well?"

Jess and Rose looked a bit disappointed at the sudden change in subject while Albus looked grateful.

"Uh, yeah, it's my first year," replied Jess, weakly.

Rose could see Jess had the same nervousness she had suffered just a couple of hours prior.

"Well, Jess, I have some questions to ask you," Albus replied suddenly. Somewhat sternly, he continued, "Do you like Quidditch?"

Albus stared at Jess, which made Jess shift nervously in his seat a little.

"No. No, I don't," Jess said, in a serious tone, as he returned Albus' stare.

Rose was preparing to break up any fight that broke out between the two, but before she could intervene, Jess then stated passionately, "I LOVE Quidditch."

Rose and Dominique both let out a sigh; For Rose, it was relief, but for Dominique, annoyance. Albus, however, wasn't convinced so he began to hurl questions at Jess in rapid succession.

"Favorite team?"

_"_Chudley's," replied Jess.

_"_Favorite player?" asked Albus.

_"_Oliver Wood," replied Jess.

_"_Favorite position?" asked Albus.

"Beater, but I'm more suited to be a Seeker," replied Jess, confidently.

Albus and Jess glared at each other for a second or two and then they both broke out into laughter.

_"_Jess, I think we're going to get along quite nicely," said Albus, as he shook Jess' hand.

For the first time ever, Rose was completely lost for words. When she turned to look at Dominique for some sort of explanation, Dominique simply shook her head, opened her magazine and said dryly, "Boys are stupid."

* * *

Scorpius was half-listening to his friend, Michael Vaisey, who was chattering on and on about how powerful his wand was or something along those lines. Honestly, Scorpius checked out of Vaisey's conversation about an hour ago. He was still going over what his father had said to him just before he boarded the train.

"N_ow, Scorpius, there's something you should know," _Draco said, sincerely, with his hand on his son's shoulder. "_Because of what happened during the war, many people will look at you differently. Some will even treat you like dirt and others will just hate you for simply being a Malfoy."_

Draco paused for a moment to make sure Scorpius understood what he was saying. He continued, "But always remember…Malfoy's always hold their heads high and weachieve no matter what."

Scorpius was still deep in his thoughts when suddenly the compartment door flew open, revealing an excited Jessica Avery, who looked more mischievous than usual, as she sat down on the seat across from him.

"I just got some rather very interesting news that I want to tel-..." Avery suddenly stopped when she noticed Vaisey was about to eat one of his chocolate frog's. Quick as a wink, she snatched the frog from Vaisey's fingers and quickly popped it into her mouth while flashing him a triumphant smile as she chewed.

Vaisey let out an annoyed sigh. Rather than foolishly try to get even with Avery, he instead began rummaging through his bag hoping to find another frog. Avery finished chewing and swallowed while pushing back the long brown hair from her eyes.

_"_Anyway, like I was saying, I have the most interesting news," she continued.

Scorpius turned to look at Avery. Normally, he wouldn't even bother to listen to pointless gossip, but it was coming from Jessica Avery and she normally didn't bother him with meaningless gossip. And who knows, thought Scorpius, it might be mildly interesting for once. Avery smiled when she saw that she had actually gotten Scorpius' attention.

"While I was getting changed into my uniform, I overhear-..."

"By overheard, don't you mean eavesdropped?_"_ Vaisey interrupted.

Avery shot him a warning glare, before continuing on. as if he didn't say anything.

_"_I overheard two girls talking about an Albus Potter and a couple of Weasleys that are starting Hogwarts this year as well," she said in a mocking tone that could almost compete with his own, thought Scorpius – well, almost.

The moment the name Potter was spoken from her lips, Avery had gained the attention of everyone in the compartment. Even Jackson Nott and Paavai Zabini had stopped, in the middle of their most intense chess match yet, at the sound of Potter's name. After a second or two, Scorpius slowly began to smirk menacingly.

"Well, if this isn't irony, then I don't know what is." Scorpius' said with amusement as Vaisey's, face began to darken severely

"It's bad enough that we have to be extra careful of what we say around Mudbloods. Now, we have to watch our backs too, for there's not just one Potter, but two. And if that's not enough, we also have an army of hot-headed Weasleys, running about" Vaisey hissed.

"My brother, Pyro, says that James Potter spends most of his time bullying young Slytherins," Paavai whispered softly, before adding, "I really don't want to be bullied." Despite the worry in her voice, she still managed to take Nott's rook with her bishop. "Check!" she said, smiling at her friend, who was now staring thoughtfully at the chess board.

Avery reached over to bring little Paavai into hug and said soothingly _"Oh, come on. You're not going to be bullied, Pav. You probably won't even be sorted into Slytherin anyway."_

Paavai looked thoughtful for a moment. _"Well, mum was in Ravenclaw so I might be as well. But won't you guys be upset if I'm not in Slytherin?"_ she asked.

Vaisey commented, _"Next to Slytherin, Ravenclaw is the next best thing."_ _"Hey, Malfoy, what did your mother used to say about Ravenclaw?"_ Vaisey said with a smirk.

Scorpius responded with an amused chuckle. His mother was rather clever with her comments. _"The only difference between Ravenclaw and Slytherin is the lack of ambition."_ This made the group laugh.

_"_Check!_"_ Nott said, suddenly. Paavai quickly looked down at the board and pouted when she saw one of her knights had crumbled, by a pawn of all things.

"By the way, how is Professor Padma Zabini doing?" Scorpius asked curiously. "Mother says she hasn't seen her since she took up teaching."

"She is good. She loves teaching potions. And according to Pyro, she is also the only Professor that all the houses seem to like," Paavai said, as she moved her remaining knight to safer location.

"Speaking of family, Nott, did your brother make Perfect this year? He's a six year, isn't he?" Avery asked. She added, "And wasn't Davies supposed to sit with us?"

"Yes to both," Nott replied with his usual indifference, while not taking his eyes from the chess board.

"And as for my dear cousin, he's too busy trying to look too self-important to sit with us. All he does is sit alone and read that S.P.E.W garbage. I swear. He has like half a dozen pamphlets in his room," Vaisey ranted.

Scorpius looked annoyed at the news, as well as Avery. Nott, however, didn't seem to care and Paavai had a frown on her face.

"Did you tell your mother or anyone else for that matter?" Scorpius questioned.

Vaisey shook his head, "No." "If anyone ever found out that the heir to the Davies family is a supporter of S.P.E.W., it would tarnish not just him, but the entire family as well. What is he thinking by supporting anything that is connected to the Potter and Weasley families? It's unacceptable! Did he forget those filthy-excuses-for-wizards killed his uncle and my father?!" Vaisey said through gritted teeth.

Scorpius looked at his friend, Vaisey, and pondered a moment. His father did die, but was it at the hands of Harry Potter or Ron Weasley? That was never proven. In fact, no one outside the Auror Department knew what really happened. Whoever killed Michael Vaisey's father would have to be a duelist and a good one at that. Because Michael Vaisey, Sr. was one of the top five master duelists in Europe and to beat him would be an extraordinary challenge.

Before anyone could say anything further on the subject, the train started slowly coming to a stop, quickly followed by a loud whistle.

As the five got up from their seats, Paavai reached for her black queen and swiftly placed it in position. _"Checkmate!"_ she said to Nott with a smile.

And with that they all left the small compartment to begin what would be the next seven years of their lives.


	2. Welcome to Hogwarts

**authors note... Hey every one. before you start reading I just wanted to thank you for the reviews they make me want to wright that much more. on a another note i have a question for you guys do you want pictures of the cast or should I leave it for the imagination tell me your thoughts. enjoy the story please leave a review. PS this FanFiction is base on the the brilliance of JK Rowling however this story's plot is mine own. **

When the train came to a stop the students all stepped out onto a dark platform. "So we're here. Now what?" Albus asked Rose.

She was about to offer an explanation when a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the all students. Then Rose heard a familiar voice say, "First years! First years! Over here!" Albus and Rose gave each other knowing smiles, immediately recognizing the voice. They started running, leaving Dominique and Jess behind. Dominique and Jess looked at each other for a second and then followed quickly behind.

Albus and Rose made their way to the front of the crowd of the other first years. "Hagrid! Hagrid!" Albus and Rose yelled happily.

The half-giant initially had a confused look on his face, but then gave the biggest smile Rose and Albus had ever seen. "Blimey, Rose! Albus! I thought I was having a bit of déjà vu for a minute," said Hagrid, as he gave Rose and Albus a mighty hug.

"It's certainly wonderful to see you too, Hagrid," Rose said between giggles.

Hagrid's bushy beard was tickling her face every time he would say something. Hagrid pulled away from Rose and then led everyone to the boats. "All right, all right, this way. Four in each boat," Hagrid instructed.

After the four got into their boat, it started to move. Rose could feel her heart began to race. She never did like the water. "Oh, boo. I hate the water," Rose mumbled.

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you refused to learn how to swim," Albus laughed.

"I would've learned if I could. But, in order to learn, you actually have to get in the water," Rose explained. She knew that she wasn't quite making sense, but, in her defense, she didn't care about making sense at the moment. She was in a little boat in the middle of a deep, dark lake.

As the bout gently floated across lake the massive castle came into full view. It sat majestically upon a huge rock formation and the tall towers looked as if they were touching the sky "its beautiful" Jess said quietly witch both Rose and Albus nodded in agreement.

"well ee'ts no alpha tower ee'n the moonlight, but eet's Romantic all the same" Dominique added.

When the boat shifted to the side a little, Rose panicked, grabbed Jess's hand and held onto it for dear life. When she felt his hand squeeze back, Rose felt her body begin to calm a bit, but she didn't dare let go. All she could think about was falling in. Every time the boat shifted, Rose squeezed Jess's hand and kept her eyes shut. As long as she did that, she knew she wouldn't fall into the water.

After several agonizing minutes, Rose felt the boat stop. She didn't make a move. She heard Albus call out to her, "Rose, we've landed. You can open your eyes now." With that, Rose leapt out of the boat like a cat leaping out of water. "Geez, Rose. You were as pale as a ghost. For a minute there, I thought you were going to break poor Jess's hand," Albus laughed.

Rose felt her face heat up immediately. "_Oh shut up, _Albus. You're just jealous z'at no girl will hold your 'and," Dominique said with a smirk.

Rose took a quick peek towards Albus, but she could feel her cheeks heat up even more when she saw him smile at her. "You know, Albus, ee'f you keep teasing her like that you might end up in Slytherin after all," Dominique continued.

Albus immediately stopped laughing and replied, "No need to get mean, Dominique."

"Well, if you guys are done bickering, you'll see the rest of the group is already moving without us," said Hagrid.

When the four reached the rest of the first years they were all gathered in front of Professor Longbottom. "I can't believe we have to call Uncle Neville Professor Longbottom now," Albus whispered to Rose.

"You think that's hard? Imagine how Stacy felt last year. I don't think I could ever get used to calling my dad "Mr. Weasley," but she has to call hers "Professor Longbottom," Rose whispered back to Albus.

Suddenly, all eyes became fixed on the smiling figure in front of them. "Welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor Longbottom. I will soon take you into the Great Hall, but, before you sit down, you must be sorted into your houses. Now, the sorting is important. Your house will be like your family. You all sleep in the same dorms, eat at the same table and have classes together. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. While you're here, all houses will be competing for what is known as the House Cup. In order to win, each house collects house points and the one with the most points is the winner. Good deeds will earn you points and troublemaking will lose you points."

The professor paused a moment to look at the crowd of students and then continued. " now, I'm going to leave for a moment, and I will come back once we're ready. Now take this time to maybe clean up or socialize. it's your time" He then moved towards the doors, the kids parting for him to move easily to move through them. Once the door closed all the kids started talking but Albus, Rose, Dominque, and Jess just stood there quietly.

One of the other kids accidentally bumped into Rose, making her stumble backwards. Rose thought she was going to land on her bum, but instead, she was caught by a pair of arms.

Once she steadied herself, Rose turned to thank the one that caught her, but froze when her eyes met with a pair of intensely cold, silver-like eyes.

"Watch where you're going," the voice hissed, immediately knocking Rose out of her trance.

Rose began to take in the boy that stood in front of her. Those silver eyes were the first thing that drew her attention. They were cold, emotionless and had the look of liquid silver. His skin appeared flawless and was pale white. His hair was golden blond and slicked back, which made him look older than he actually was.

"Stop staring at him like that, you tart!" a shrill little-girl voice yelled.

Rose immediately turned towards the shrill voice, but her anger quickly turned to shock when she saw a little girl, who was at least a foot and half shorter than her, glaring up at her. Before Rose could respond, Albus came to stand in front of her in a protective manner.

"Hey, don't call my cousin a tart!" Albus replied to the little girl.

"Well, tell your cousin...," the brunette trailed off, her eyes narrowing, as she looked at Albus. An amused look briefly appeared on the girl's face, but was quickly replaced with a smirk.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, Scorpius. Albus Potter. And that must make you one of the Weasley's," the brunette girl said to Rose, in a mocking tone.

Albus glared at the blond-haired boy. "So you're Scorpius. That means you must be a Malfoy," _he said._

Arrogantly, Scorpius replied, "I'm surprised you know my name. After all, the only thing we ever hear these days is how your precious family is doing to make the world a better place," he mocked.

Albus' face darkened, as he replied, "Actually, I heard that your father was nothing more than a bully."

Scorpius looked ready to snap back at Albus, but suddenly a boy came up to them and said,

"Davis."

Both Rose and Albus turned around to look at Jess, who was looking like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Hi, Vaisey," Jess replied.

Rose looked back and forth between the two boys. She was just about to ask how they knew each other, but the Vaisey boy cut her off.

"Where were you? We waited on the train, but you never showed up," he asked coldly.

Jess cleared his throat before answering, "I sat with them."

Vaisey then gave the three cousins a once-over before glaring back at Jess.

"First, your reading garbage and now you want to be in the company of garbage," he spat with a venomous tone. Meanwhile, Scorpius smirked while the little brunette smiled gleefully.

Albus looked murderous, but, thankfully, Professor Longbottom returned before anything got out of hand.

The Professor announced, "All right, first years, follow me."

Vaisey, Malfoy and the brunette begin to follow the rest of the group. Vaisey stopped and turned around to give Jess a nasty glare.

"Just remember, cousin. Just because I don't tell Uncle Lucas what you've been up to doesn't mean that somebody else won't," he said, bitingly.

And, with that, Vaisey stomped past his two friends, who then followed him. Malfoy then turned to look at them all with a devilish grin and said, "Well, this should be a most interesting year indeed."

When they entered the Great Hall it was nothing like Rose pictured it; it was a thousand times better. There were hundreds of candles floating in the air high above their heads. The ceiling was charmed to look like a clear night sky. It was the most beautiful thing Rose had ever seen. She was so taken by the sight that she nearly jumped out of her skin when an old hat that was placed on top of a stool began to sing:

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see.  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your tops hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave of heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart.  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal.  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil.  
Or yet wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind.  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends.  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And you won't get in a flap.  
You're safe in my hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

When the old hat was finished there was loud applause from all four tables.

"I can't believe I 'ave to put z'at dirty little hat on my nice clean 'air," Dominique muttered into Rose's ear.

"_Leave it to Dom to worry more about her hair than which house she'll be placed in,"_ Rose thought to herself.

They reached the other end of the hall where the **S**orting Hat and the staff were seated, except for Professor Longbottom, who stood next to the stool.

_"_I will call out each of your names in alphabetical order by last name. When I call your name you will put on the hat and sit on the stool. When you are sorted you will take your place among your new housemates," the Professor explained.

Then he pulled out a long scroll from his coat pocket and called the first name on the list.

"Jessica Avery!"

Rose was surprised to see the rude little girl they met earlier break through the group. She was walking as if she was 10 feet tall. As she took her seat on the stool, Rose heard Albus make a comment about how her short legs couldn't even touch the floor, which made Dominique and Jess laugh.

When Professor Longbottom placed the Sorting Hat on her head it nearly covered her whole face. The hat rested on her head for only a few seconds before it called out, "Slytherin!"

There was loud applause, mostly from the Slytherin table. Avery had a very satisfied look on her face. She hopped off the stool and gracefully walked over to the table of her new housemates.

A few names later, the Professor then called out, "Jess Davies!"

Rose gave his hand a tight squeeze while Albus gave him a pat on the back. Jess took in a deep breath, as he made his way up to the stool. Not long after the hat was placed on his head, the hat came to life.

"_Ah-hah, a member of the Davies family! It's been awhile since I've had to sort one of you."_

Jess could feel his stomach doing cartwheels.

The old hat continued. _"Well, you're intelligent, no doubt about that. A tad cunning, but you don't use it for your own gains. Hmm. Yes, better be Ravenclaw!"_

Jess felt relief flood over him, as he smiled brightly. He took his seat next to an older Ravenclaw housemate.

Awhile later, Rose's legs were starting to feel a bit numb. If there was one thing she hated about her name, it was in circumstances of being called in alphabetical order. She was almost always last.

A few more names were called and then Professor Longbottom paused slightly before calling out, "Scorpius Malfoy!"

The Great Hall became deathly quiet. The three cousins immediately found their eyes trained on the young Malfoy, as he made his way through the mass of first years. Rose could hear whispers and a couple of snide comments, but Malfoy seemed not to notice or simply ignored them. He took his seat on top of the stool all the while smirking arrogantly.

Not to any of the cousin's surprise, the Sorting Hat did not even touch his head before it yelled out, _"Slytherin!"_ The only table that applauded was his, but he didn't seem to mind. He quickly took his seat next to Avery.

Rose was beginning to feel restless, as more and more first years were being sorted. But when she heard the name "Albus Potter" being called, it was just like Malfoy's sorting. The Great Hall was, once again, silent. However, instead of snide comments, there were whispers of admiration.

Albus nervously took his seat on the stool. The Sorting Hat responded.

"_Ah, another Potter. Let's see, let's see. Well, you're loyal, very brave and even a little bit cunning. You would do well in Slytherin!"_

Albus felt his heart slam against his chest. He remembered what his father had told him earlier this morning. Albus began mentally repeating, "_I__don't want to be in Slytherin. I don't want to be in Slytherin._"

"_Not Slytherin you say? Your father said the same thing, as did your brother,"_ the hat chortled. However, Albus continued to mentally repeat his request.

"_Well, if you're sure then you better be in Gryffindor!"_ replied the old hat.

There was a low cheer from three of the four tables. Rose could see Fred and James releasing some fireworks charms in celebration.

Professor Longbottom was not pleased. "That's enough you two. Don't make me give you both detention on your first day back!"

After Professor Longbottom waved his wand to make all the fireworks vanish, he turned to look at his new charge.

"Go on, Albus, and take your seat."

The Professor didn't have to ask him twice. Albus quickly hopped off the stool and ran to take his seat next to two blond first-year girls. Professor Longbottom smiled as he returned to the scroll and proceeded to call out the next name on the list.

"Dominique Weasley!"

Dom ran up to the stool and took her seat. Unlike Albus and Jess, the hat quickly shouted, "Ravenclaw!" Dom smiled proudly, as she happily skipped towards the Ravenclaw table.

And then the moment Rose was waiting for finally came.

"Rose Weasley!"

Rose felt like a small army of pixies was rampaging around in the pit of her stomach. She slowly walked to the stool and took her seat. She looked up at the Professor and when he smiled down to her she felt her courage began to rise. Then Rose felt the old hat begin to set upon her head.

"_Ah, another Weasley!"_ the hat replied. Rose tried not to jump at the sudden voice.

"_But I sense great intelligence, the likes I have not seen since your mother. I thought she would also do well in Ravenclaw, but, much like you, she was far too adventurous and too daring. This is why I think it's best that you're in Gryffindor!" _

The Gryffindor table cheered loudly. Rose could only smile as she took her seat next to Albus, who gave her a hug when she sat down.

* * *

Scorpius watched as the Weasley girl was sorted into Gryffindor.

_"_A Weasley in Gryffindor. How shocking," Avery mocked, which then caused him and Vaisey to snicker.

"Paavai Zabini!" Professor Longbottom called out to the only first year left on the list.

"Why did that fool just call out her name when she is clearly the only one left?" Vaisey asked, visibly irritated.

"Dramatic effect," Scorpius answered sarcastically.

"Will you two shut up! Pav is about to be sorted!" Avery hissed, not wanting to miss her friend's sorting.

It was only a few seconds after the hat was placed onto her head that the hat yelled out, "Ravenclaw!"

Unlike the rest, who were sorted into the other three houses, both the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables cheered, as Paavia took her seat at the Ravenclaw table. She shyly waved to her friends at the Slytherin table.

When the sorting was finished Professor Longbottom took his seat next to the head mistress, who rose from her seat and looked out at the four tables.

"To our returning students, welcome back. And to our new students, may I say welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As for me, I'm the Head Mistress McGonagall. Now, there are a few rules that should always be in place. The forbidden forest is strictly forbidden. Also, Mr Filch, our caretaker, wants me to remind everyone that magic is not allowed in between classes and he has a list of the forbidden items. He would like you to check for any new items and, if he finds any of these items, he will relieve you of them."

The head mistress continued. "On another note, last term was the last year that Professor Slughorn would be teaching here. Instead, your new potions mistress is our very own, head of Ravenclaw House, Professor Padma Zabini. We also have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Theodore Nott. He will take the position as head of Slytherin House. So without further delay, enjoy!"

The head mistress finished her speech with a joyful smile. As she waved her hand, tons of food immediately appeared on all four tables.

All the other students were filling their plates, except for Avery, who was busy sending Jackson Nott shocked looks.

"Y-…you didn't say anything about father teaching this year," Avery stammered.

Nott's brow rose. "You didn't ask," he replied simply.

"Sorry I didn't think to ask that your father, who everyone knows hates kids, mudbloods and explaining things more than once, would be teaching again. Sorry!" Avery responded sarcastically.

Scorpius gave Avery an amused look, as he took another a bite of his chicken, but remained silent.

"I'm so going to fail in Defense Against the Dark Arts class tomorrow. I know I am," Vaisey whined.

"I'm sure you won't fail any more than the rest of the class will," Avery said, amused at Vaisey's plight.

"So, Scorpius, what do we do about Potter and the two Weaselette's?" Avery asked somewhat indifferently.

But Scorpius knew better. He knew that she would love nothing more than to mess with the perfect cousins. And, to be honest, he wouldn't say "no" to it either.

"What kind of Slytherin's would we be, if we didn't mess with a few Gryffindorks every now and then?"

Scorpius must've guessed correctly because Avery's face lit up at the prospect of messing with the Gryffindor's.

After the feast, everyone stood up and the older students all rushed out of the Great Hall. Meanwhile, the first years all stayed behind to follow their prefects. Scorpius noticed a familiar lanky, blond approaching them.

"I'm your six-year prefect," he told them in a silky voice. "My name's Andrew Nott. So if you ever have any questions, then I guess you can ask me or one of the other prefects. Now come along."

He waved them forward, out of the Great Hall and then led them downstairs. It was silent as they walked through the dim dungeons.

"Now, listen up, because I'm only going to say this once. Unlike upstairs, there are no portraits down here. There are suits of armor, but they usually just stand guard. However, sometimes they get a little bit antsy so they attack each other. And sometimes, after curfew, they will go after students who are out after dark."

"Well that sounds pleasant," Vaisey whispered to a fellow first year, making her giggle in a girly way. "your name is Parkinson, wasn't it? Isabella Parkinson?" Vaisey inquired as the girl nodded with a little smile playing on her face. Vaisey looked as if he was going to ask her something else but

Vaisey looked as if he was going to ask her something else but before he could Andrew, continued. "Don't worry about Filch's list. He never cares if a Slytherin is caught with something they shouldn't have so we pretty much get whatever we want down here."

Scorpius felt Avery nudge his shoulder. When he turned to look at her, she had her familiar this-is-going-to-be-fun face on.

Finally, Andrew stopped at a flat, stone wall.

"To get into the Slytherin common room, all you have to do is take your wand and tap it on the wall in a particular order. The order will be changing every other day so don't forget it."

After a couple of well-placed taps, the wall began to shift and open. Andrew Nott led them inside to the Slytherin common room. It was a low underground room, lit with hanging green lamps, a calm green fireplace and on the black stone walls hung bold Slytherin tapestries.

The furniture was plush and divine. The room was, in a word, elegant. Once they were all inside, the stone wall slid shut.

"Now, the dormitories are just up there. The boys are on the right and the girls on your left. There is no way a boy can get up to the girl's dormitories so don't try it!" Andrew warned.

Vaisey suddenly spoke up, but only loud enough for Scorpius and Avery to hear Challenge accepted!"

"Oh, merlin," Avery groaned. "Scorp, why do you even hang out with him?"

"Because no one else would put up with him," Scorpius replied.

Andrew spoke to the group. "Now, your things are in your rooms. Just remember this. As Slytherins, we are better than the other houses and we take pride in that. Now get to bed. Your first day as Slytherin's starts tomorrow."

Avery gave Scorpius a quick hug before following the rest of the girls up to the girl's dorm. Scorpius and the boys marched up to the boy's dorm.

When they entered the first-year boy's dorm room, there were five beds. Besides himself, Vaisey and Nott, there was also Zane Goyle and Duncan Dolvov

Scorpius quickly took the bed closest to the underwater window, while the others started to make their own claims on beds. Quickly, Scorpius changed into his night clothes, climbed into bed and went right to sleep.


	3. School days

**Authors note... well here is the third chapter. I had a lot of fun with this one so I hope you enjoy it!.  
**

"It should be illegal to wake up children before seven in the morning,_"_ Vaisey whined, as he sluggishly trailed behind Scorpius and Avery on their way to breakfast.

Avery turned her head and sent him an annoyed look.

"No one told you to come. In fact, I think my exact words were, "You don't you have to come." And here you are coming and ruining my plans for a Vaisey-free breakfast with Scorpius, to start our first day of school. Now, go away!" said Avery, as she began to pull on Scorpius' arm in a feeble attempt to get him away from Vaisey. But, to her dismay, Vaisey only quickened his pace to join them.

"So, Malfoy, do you, by chance, have your school schedule yet because I still don't have mine," Vaisey asked curiously.

Scorpius shrugged and replied, "No, but I think I heard Jackson's older brother, Andrew, telling someone that we get them during breakfast."

"What a perfect way to ruin a perfectly good breakfast," Vaisey said solemnly, before refocusing on Avery.

"So, Avery, how was the girl's dorm? Get along well with the other girls all right?" Vaisey asked, knowingly.

"It's insufferable! I hate sharing a bathroom with two other girls. I hate not having my beautiful king-size, four-poster bed and I hate listening to whom or what's the cutest in the world!" Avery vented. She then took a deep breath, calmed down somewhat and continued, "But now I'm with much better company."

"Wow! Thanks, Avery! I knew we were friends," Vaisey said happily.

"I wasn't talking about you, toad! I was talking about Scorpius!" Avery snapped.

Vaisey immediately put his hand to his heart and with a mockingly anguished look on his face, he replied, "You struck me, Avery! Oh, my poor wounded heart!"

Scorpius looked at his friend amusingly and said dryly, "Vaisey, have you forgotten that you sold your heart at eight years old when you framed one of your house elves for stealing cookies when it was you who stole them? He was the one who got punished – severely, I might add."

Vaisey smiled cruelly and replied, "Oh, yeah, I forgot. On the bright side, those cookies were, literally, to die for."

When they finally reached the Great Hall it was practically empty. Only a few students, mostly Slytherin and Ravenclaw's, were sitting down having their breakfast. As the three approached the Slytherin table, they quickly spotted Jackson sitting at the end of the table along with Megan Flint and Isabella Parkinson, who sat across from him.

"Good morning, Jackson and Ladies," Scorpius said smoothly, as he took his seat along with Avery and Vaisey.

Unlike Jackson, who only gave a curt nod before returning to his copy of 'The Daily Prophet,' Isabella and Megan both giggled before they both replied, "Good morning, Malfoy."

"And where's my hello?" Vaisey asked with a smirk.

Both girls giggled and replied, "Oh, all right. Good morning, Michael and you, too, Jessica."

Vaisey smiled, as he returned to his meal; however, Avery did not look pleased.

"My name is Avery, not Jessica. Got it?" Avery hissed.

She looked like she was about to say more, but stopped when she noticed Professor Nott coming towards them. He quickly passed out their class schedule to each of them, before glaring at his son.

"Jackson, where are Mr. Goyle and Mr. Dolvov?" he asked coldly.

"They're still asleep, sir," Jackson answered with a matching cold tone. Professor Nott gave them all one last serious look before swiftly leaving the hall.

After the professor was out of earshot, Isabella looked at Jackson, annoyingly and commented, "How can someone as fun as Aunt Pansy be married to someone like Uncle Theo? I'll never know."

Jackson only responded with a bored shrug before returning to his morning paper.

About the time they were finishing their breakfast, all four tables were now packed with students.

Suddenly, Vaisey shouted out, "Shit!" which caught everyone around him off-guard.

"What in Merlin's name is wrong with you?" Avery snapped, as she dried up her spilled orange juice with her wand.

When Vaisey raised his eyes from the class schedule, he saw a mixture of annoyed, curious and worried looks from the others.

"It's this blasted class schedule! More than half of the classes will be shared with Gryffindor! It's ridiculous!" Vaisey ranted furiously.

"It could be worse, Vaisey," said Scorpius. "We could be sharing those classes with Hufflepuff, instead. Besides, messing with Gryffindor will be so much more fun," he said with an amused look on his face.

Scorpius then took a healthy swig of his orange juice and stood up to leave.

"I'm going to class. Anyone else coming?" he asked.

As expected, Avery and Vaisey both quickly rose from their seats. Meanwhile, Megan and Isabella both shook their heads "no" while not taking their eyes from their copy of 'Feisty Witch.' As for Jackson, he didn't respond at all. Scorpius took that to mean, _"I'll meet you there."_ And, with that, the three left the hall._  
_

* * *

"Albus Severus Potter, if you have made us late on our first day of class, I will never forgive you!" Rose threatened, as she and Albus, along with a couple of new fellow Gryffindor's, Lysander Scamander and Amelia Wood, ran down the long corridor.

Rose and Albus were both glad that their longtime friend, Lysander, made it into Gryffindor. Although, Lysander was a little sad when his twin brother, Lorcan, was sorted into Ravenclaw. However, Rose convinced him that he was always more like his mum and that Gryffindor was the best house for him.

Later that night, when Rose arrived at her new dorm, she met Amelia. Amelia was a little snarky and, perhaps, a little Quidditch-obsessed, but Rose liked her all the same. Albus and Lysander liked Amelia too when she was introduced to them by Rose during breakfast the next day. They especially liked her when they found out she was the daughter of the Great Oliver Wood, Star Keeper for Puddlemere.

Albus and Amelia talked about everything that was Quidditch during the entire meal. In fact, that was the main reason they were currently zooming down the halls.

Albus and Amelia were so engrossed in their conversation that Rose nearly had to drag them out of the Great Hall because she was convinced the pair had now made them all late for class.

"It'll be okay, Rose. We have plenty of time," Lysander reassured her wearily.

And he was right. When they rounded the corner they saw their fellow first-year Gyriffindor's entering the Transfiguration classroom.

"Thank Merlin, we made it!" Rose said, as she sighed with relief. She then quickly scanned the classroom for some proper seats.

"Look over there! Four perfectly good seats and they're right in the front of the class as well. How wonderful!" Rose said beaming.

Albus and Lysander were both about to groan loudly with disapproval, but stopped when Amelia shot them a disapproving glance.

"Oh, come on guys. Rose has the right idea. We should start our first day with a little initiative!" Amelia said, encouragingly. As they went to take their seats, Amelia smiled when she saw Rose give her a grateful smile.

Rose took her seat between Albus and Amelia. She then quickly started to empty out her bag. First, she pulled out her neat stack of parchment paper and placed it in front of her. Then she pulled out her favorite blue and white quill and some ink and gently placed it to her left. And, lastly, she pulled out her 'Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration' book and laid it down to her right. After she was all set up, she placed her hands in front of her, as she happily waited for the professor to start class.

Her moment of bliss was cut short when she heard a low snicker coming from Albus.

"Geez, Rose. You sure you got everything?" Albus asked while trying to suppress a grin.

Rose's eyes immediately grew large with worry. She then began to look through her bag to make sure she didn't forget anything important. It was only when she heard her friends laugh that she realized she was being made fun of. Rose felt her face turn crimson with embarrassment, but then that quickly transformed into anger.

"I don't see what's so funny," she said angrily. She didn't know what was so amusing about being prepared for education. After all, her mum had always said, "A healthy education is one of the most important things in a young witch and wizard's life." So, if that was the case, then what was so funny?

"Come on, Rose. Not even Rowena Ravenclaw, herself, was as obsessed with learning as much as you are," Albus said between laughs.

Rose was about to give her cousin a nasty tongue-lashing when she was cut off by a familiar shrill.

"I told you that we should have gone right, instead of left, but nooo, we just had to follow you!" Avery ranted, as she, Malfoy and Vaisey came shuffling into the classroom.

"Just shut it, Avery. I don't need your intense nagging right now," Vaisey hissed.

"How dare you tell me...," Avery started to fire back, but was suddenly cut off when Malfoy, slammed his hand onto his desk, making a loud "smack" that echoed throughout the entire classroom. The class became instantly silent.

"Will you two do me a favor and shut your mouths and sit down," Malfoy said in a calm voice.

As they took their seats on either side of him, Rose saw Malfoy shoot Avery and Vaisey a glare so ice cold that she, herself, felt its chill. Unlike, Vaisey, who just rolled his eyes at him and Avery, who nervously gave him an apologetic look. When Malfoy returned her look with a smirk, Avery's face instantly lit up.

It was then that the professor entered the classroom. She was a bit on the older side, but in an elegant sort of way. She gracefully walked down to her desk and then turned to address her class.

"Good morning, class," as the professor greeted them in a singsong voice.

"My name is Professor Meriwether and welcome to Transfiguration."

She then waved her wand, making little wooden matches appear onto each of their desks.

"Now, we are going to learn how to transform a match into a needle."

When each student had a match in hand the professor then taught them how to properly wave their wands while speaking a command

"All right, now, repeat after me - exaequet ad acus."

Rose carefully waved and flicked her wand while saying the spell. She instantly smiled when her little wooden match transformed into a thin metal needle. It was the first time she ever used a spell with her wand and it felt great. She watched her parents and other family members cast spells all the time and she even read about it. But reading about it and actually doing it was on a whole other scale.

"Fantastic job, Ms. Weasley," Professor Meriwether praised happily. She then turned her head towards the Slytherin half of the room.

"Ah, well done, Mr. Malfoy. It seems that I have been blessed with some gifted students this year," she said proudly.

As the other students continued to repeat the spell, Rose couldn't help but remember what her dad said once before, "_N__ow, Rosie, I want you to beat him at every_ test." He laughed it off as a joke, but Rose had the feeling he was sincere in his words.

She remembered hearing bad things about the Malfoy's during the war. She also remembers her dad and Uncle Harry talking about how the Malfoy family and several other Pureblood families were dominating the Wizard business world and some muggle business as well and that they were now as powerful as ever.

Rose was quickly brought out of her thoughts when she felt Amelia slightly nudge her shoulder.

"Rose, how did you do that?" she asked quietly. Rose smiled as she began to give Amelia some pointers.

* * *

Scorpius lay back in his seat comfortably, as he watched the other students intensely fiddle with their potions. It was their last class of the day and their only class with Ravenclaw. So, much to Scorpius' delight, there was nothing exploding at the moment. Scorpius then brought his attention back to his own potion; it was still bubbling and the liquid was turning clear as crystal.

After Professor Zabini gave a lecture on how the elegant art of potion making can be used for great good as well as great evil, she then began to teach the class on how to brew a Forgetfulness Potion.

While the rest of the class was caught off-guard at being asked to brew a potion on the first day, Scorpius wasn't surprised in the least. He knew Mrs. Padma Zabini all his life; being married to his father's best friend had that effect. When his family would visit the Zabini's villa she would always give them difficult puzzles to play with or a difficult riddle to solve. Paavai and he would then spend most of their day playing around with them.

"All right Scorpius, we've waited ten minutes. Now, what?" Avery asked anxiously, as she read the instructions.

Scorpius looked at his potions partner, amusingly. "Patience, Avery. We've got plenty of time."

Avery let out a groan, "Come on, Scorpius. Once we're finished with our potion we'll finally be done with our classes for the day so let's hurry!" Avery pleaded anxiously.

Scorpius couldn't help but laugh at his friend's impatient attitude. He then took a quick glance at the instructions.

"Okay. Next we have to add four mistletoe berries to the mortar and then crush them into a medium-fine powder using the pestle," Scorpius instructed.

He then handed the mortar and pestle to Avery. "Here, grind this up for me," he continued.

While Avery ground up the mistletoe berries, Scorpius smirked when he looked towards Jackson and Vaisey, who were currently arguing about how much ingredients they needed to put into the potion. When Scorpius looked back down to his potions book he quickly took notice of some words that were suddenly appearing on the parchment.

"_Scorpius, can we talk?"_

Scorpius looked up at the professor to see if she was looking towards him. When he was sure she wasn't he quickly took his quill and wrote his reply.

_"Depends on who's asking."_

He only had to wait a few seconds before more words appeared.

"_Oh, sorry. It's Paavai."_

Scorpius quickly searched the classroom and immediately found her sitting just a row behind him. She gave him a little smile before pointing to her parchment. Scorpius grabbed his quill and began to write.

_"Sure, Pav, after class. Okay?" _

"_That's fine, but what I have to tell you is very personal so please come alone," _Paavai replied_. _

Scorpius became a little suspicious. _ "Why would Paavai want to talk to me alone?"_ he wondered to himself. He was just about to ask Paavai why, but Avery finished grinding up the mistletoe berries. He would have to wait until after class.

When class was over Scorpius was feeling a little smug at the moment. His and Avery's potion came out absolutely perfect. In fact, theirs and Paavai and her partner's potions were the best in the class. As he and Avery collected their things, Vaisey and Jackson came up to them.

"Hey, now that class is done for the day, how about we go and hang out around the lake?" Vaisey suggested.

When everyone agreed and made a move to leave, Scorpius chose this moment to break from the group so he could meet up with Paavai.

"I'll meet up with you guys later. I've got something I need to do," he said smoothly.

Vaisey and Jackson said nothing and went on their way, while Avery hesitated for a second, but then followed after them.

Scorpius made himself comfortable on the professor's desk. After several minutes of waiting, Paavai came through the classroom door.

"About time you showed up. If you had taken any longer, I would've started to think you stood me up," he said with his signature smirk on his face, which made Paavia giggle.

"But, seriously, Pav, what's the matter?" Scorpius asked.

Paavai took a quick breath and blurted out, "Scorpius, how do you get someone to leave you alone?"

Scorpius felt a bit of concern sweep through him.

"Pav, is someone bothering with you?" he asked sternly and then continued, "Because if someone is…"

Normally, he didn't care if someone got bullied, mainly because he was the one doing the bullying. But if someone messed with one off his own, they would pay for it. And despite not being in the same house as him, Paavai was still a Pureblood, a Zabini and a close friend.

Paavai's eyes widened with shock. "Oh, no, no, it's nothing like that," she reassured Scorpius. "It's just my cousin, Thomas. He won't leave me alone," she then said frantically.

But she stopped talking when she noticed Scorpius looking at her as if she had sprouted a second head.

"You have a cousin?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, I have a cousin. Anyway...," Paavai had continued, but Scorpius quickly cut her off.

"Pav! We have known each other practically since birth! How was it that I didn't know you have a cousin?" Scorpius said with the shock still evident in his voice.

Paavai was becoming a little annoyed.

"Our families don't talk much. We only see each other when Grandma and Grandpa Patil want us to visit them during the summer and, even then, it's only for a few weeks."

Scorpius thought about what she was saying when, suddenly, the name Paavai called her "mystery cousin" rang a bell.

"Wait! You said your cousin's name was Thomas. You don't mean Drake Thomas, do you?" he asked.

Paavai confirmed with a nod and answered, "Yeah, that's him. He started this year as well. He's in Gryffindor."

"Okay, two questions. How is he bothering you? And what do you want me to do about it?" Scorpius asked curiously.

He was surprised to see his friend's usual sweet and innocent expression turn into a firm frown, as she spoke.

"He thinks he's trying to save me. He has it in his head that the families I associate with are going to lead me to dark magic or something," she said, not even bothering to suppress an eye roll.

Scorpius replied, "This sounds like a family problem, Pav. Maybe you should go ask Pyro for help instead."

The color drained from Paavai face.

"No! No! No!" she quickly replied. "I just want him to leave me alone, not for him to be sent to the infirmary for the next week. And, besides, I don't want to distract Pyro from his little war with James Potter. You would think two second-year boys wouldn't fight so much," she said with a giggle.

"So will you talk to him for me?" Paavai pleaded again. "He won't leave me alone when I tell him to. Maybe he will, if you tell him. I don't know, scare him a little bit. Get him to back off!"

Scorpius couldn't help but smirk. Paavai was the only person in the world who could come up with a clever scheme like this and still be sincerely innocent. "She would have made one hell of a Slytherin," he thought, amusingly.

"Don't worry, Pav. I'll talk to him," Scorpius said simply, before he gave her a smirk that a demon would be proud of. "But you'll owe me one," he added.

Paavai smiled up at him and replied, "Don't I always?"

* * *

Rose, Dominique and Lysander's twin brother, Lorcan, were doing their homework while sitting next to a tall tree that stood at the end of the lake. Rose, who was trying to ignore Albus, Amelia, Jess and Lysander, as they were passing around a quaffle a few feet away, couldn't believe that it had been a total of three months since she came to Hogwarts and she had loved every single second of it.

As she expected, all the teachers loved her and she was naturally excelling in every class. Her life would be absolutely perfect, if it wasn't for a particular pale, blonde Malfoy, who was at her heels in every subject.

Rose felt her hand tighten around her quill at the very thought of him. Ever since their first class together when they both, seconds apart, turned the match into a needle, they've been practically neck and neck in every class.

And when Malfoy wasn't battling her for the highest marks in class, he was busy annoying her and her cousins. However, he, mainly, went after poor Albus. But, just like any true Potter would've, Albus gave as good as he got and pranked Malfoy every chance he got. Rose smiled at that thought, as she rested her back against the tree.

A short while later, Lysander missed a toss from Jess, making the quaffle land squarely on Dominique's lap for the ninth time in fifteen minutes.

"Le fait que!" Dominique yelled out in French, as she picked up the quaffle. "I'm tired of thee's annoying lee'ttle ball being z'rown at me!" she said and then quickly shoved the ball into her bag, making it vanish.

"Gimme my ball back, Dom!" Albus ordered.

But Dominique only smiled and then stuck her tongue out at him. She then let out a high-pitched squeal when Albus and Lysander lunged towards her in an attempt to get the bag from her. Everyone laughed, as Albus and Lysander chased Dominique around the tree.

Then Dominique, as if she just remembered she was a witch, quickly waved her wand and yelled out, "Locomotor Wibbly!"

Suddenly, both Albus and Lysander fell flat on their faces. Albus looked dazed for a moment, but when he tried to stand up, he immediately fell right back down onto the grass.

"Dominique, I can't believe you cast a Jelly-Legs curse on us!" Albus, yelled.

"Yeah, Dom, not funny! Now take it off!" added Lysander, sounding equally as angry.

Dominique couldn't stop laughing at their predicament; however, she did undo the spell.

"Maybe next time you two won't chase me," she said, smiling brightly.

While Jess and Amelia helped the two boys get back to their feet, Dominique reached into her bag and pulled out the quaffle.

"I'll give this little ball from hell back, if you all play with it over there so I can do my homework," she told the boys.

"Speaking of homework, have any of you even started your essay on the school Founders yet? It's due this Monday, you know," Rose warned, giving them all a serious look.

Jess smiled confidently at her and said, "Don't worry, Rose. Dom has me doing it at night."

Rose smiled when she saw him give the blond a wary glance before he continued, "So I've been on track."

"Lysander and I have been working on ours for a few days now," Amelia said, as she tossed the quaffle into air.

As if everyone had the same thought, all eyes then fell onto Albus.

"What?" said Albus, sounding a little annoyed. "I'll get to it," he continued, lamely. "And, besides, like Rose said, I got until Monday. That's like four days away!" he said defiantly.

Rose instantly jumped to her feet and made a beeline to Albus, stopping a half-foot in front of him with a scowl on her face that would put his Aunt Hermione to shame.

"Albus Severus Potter, are you telling me that you haven't even started an assignment that you got a week ago?!" Rose scolded.

Albus blushed and replied, "Sorry, Rose. I'll get it done."

Rose gave a stern nod, saying, "You're right because we're going to stay up late tonight and do tons of research on the four Founders."

Albus could hear the subtle snickers around him.

"B-…but, Rose, you don't have to do that. I'm sure you have your own homework you'd rather do," Albus said anxiously, but Rose only waved him off.

"Actually, I already did that assignment and I've just finished today's assignments as well. So I'm all yours," she said happily.

"Thanks, Rose," Albus grumbled under his breath.

Rose continued to smile happily, as she walked back to the tree and collected her things.

"Let's go! Albus, we can get a head start on some research at the library," Rose called out.

"Well, as much fun as following you guys to the library sounds, Lorcan and I are heading towards the Pitch and watching the Ravenclaw tryouts," Jess said with an excited grin on his face. Meanwhile, Lorcan was looking around, not noticing the surprised looks he was getting.

"I dee'dn't know you liked Quidditch, Lorcan?" asked Dominique.

Lorcan looked like he was going to open his mouth to speak, but his twin brother beat him to it.

"He doesn't," Lysander said with a sigh.

Amelia raised her brow slightly and said, "Then why go at all?"

"Lorcan, tell them why you're going," Lysander said with amusement.

Lorcan's face instantly lit up.

"I'm hoping to see some Smoggles during tryouts," he replied, excitedly.

"Smoggles?" Rose said skeptically. "Lorcan, what are Smoggles?" she asked.

"Grandpa told me that Smoggles are tiny little bugs that are attracted to broom magic," said Lorcan, matter of factly. "And better to look for broom-attracted bugs at the Pitch during Quidditch tryouts," he added.

Rose shook her head in laughter, as she watched Jess and Lorcan walk towards the Pitch, before turning her attention to Amelia and Lysander.

"So do you two want to come along? And what about you, Dom, want to go to the library?" Rose called out.

Both Amelia and Lysander shook their heads "no." "We can't. We have detection with Professor Nott in a little while," Amelia said solemnly.

"In fact, Amelia, we better get going so Professor Nott doesn't give us another night of detention this week," Lysander said, sounding a bit worried.

"I guess ee't's just us three then," Dominique stated, as she packed up her books. "I'll finish my potions assessment at the library."

Rose smiled excitedly at her cousins. "To the library!" she yelled out, as she led them back to the castle.

As they walked towards the castle, Rose saw a bright yellow flash, followed by a loud yelp and it was coming from the green house.

"What was that?" Rose asked curiously.

"I don't know," Albus said quietly, as he then began to smile widely at his two cousins. "But let's go check it out!"

Both Dominique and Rose gave a nod and while Dominique looked just as excited as Albus, Rose looked a bit unsure.

"Maybe we should go get a teacher," Rose said, hesitantly.

"We'll go get a teacher when we have something to tell," Albus said, as they soon approached the green house.

When they got close enough to look through one of the green house windows the first thing they saw was a dark-skinned boy wearing Gryffindor robes, surrounded by five Slytherins.

"Merlin's beard! That's Drake Thomas. He's in our year," Albus said scowling.

"What's 'e doing 'ere with a bunch of Slytherin's?" asked Dominique.

"Now, we have to get a teacher bef-.." Rose instantly stopped herself because she then heard a familiar cold-sounding voice speaking. Malfoy.

"Thomas, Thomas, Thomas. When will you learn your lesson? Because you would think that the first nine times we told you to leave her alone you would listen. And, yet, here we are telling you for the tenth time to leave her alone!"

"I'm allowed to talk to my own cousin, Malfoy!" Drake yelled, as he struggled against the two Slytherins that Rose only knew as Goyle and Dolvov.

"Not if said cousin doesn't want you to speak to her," Jackson Nott mocked with a smirk on his face.

"She only says that because she doesn't know what a bunch of slimy, Death Eater spawns you really are," Drake said through gritted teeth.

Rose thought Malfoy would get angry at what Drake said, but, instead, he just smirked at him.

"Well, as much fun as this was, Thomas, we've got some studying to do. Vaisey, hex him, will you? And make it a good one," Malfoy ordered, as he put on his jumper.

Vaisey smiled cruelly, as he muttered "With pleasure," under his breath.

Just as he began to wave his wand, Albus ran inside and quickly cast a spell.

"Flipendo!"

The red spark of light shot out of Albus' wand and it just missed Vaisey by a hair of an inch; however, Dolvov wasn't so lucky. He ended up being flung into a giant pot.

While Goyle quickly tried to pull his friend out of the pot, Malfoy, Vaisey and Jackson both cast a Stinging jinx straight at Albus, who managed to dodge them when he dove behind the planter. Luckily for him, Dominique and Rose also came running in and they both cast a Jelly-Legs jinx, which hit both Jackson and Goyle, making them fall to the ground with a heavy thud.

During all of the chaos, neither Vaisey nor Malfoy noticed when Drake had gotten a hold of his wand. But when Drake tried to cast a spell on Malfoy, while he wasn't looking, his wand was immediately ripped from his hand after being hit by an Expelliarmus.

Following this exchange, a low and smooth voice said, "Well done, first years. Well done indeed."

When the owner of the voice came out of the shadows, Rose saw a tall and lanky six-year Slytherin perfect.

"However, I would've liked to have seen more of my own house standing. Oh well," he said with a yawn and a shrug of his shoulders.

"Andrew," Vaisey called out hesitantly. "What are you doing here?"

Andrew's slight smirk grew as he spoke.

"Well, I was on my way to the lake when I saw a most curious sight - a small first-year battle." He laughed and quipped, "No pun intended." Then he continued, "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to take away some points."

"Not so fast, Nott," said a soft feminine voice from the doorway.

When Rose turned around to see who the newcomer was she was met with overwhelming relief.

"Victoire!" Dominique squealed, as she ran to her older sister and gave her a big hug. "I'm so glad z'at you're 'ere!"

Victoire smiled softly at her sister and then sent Andrew a piercing glare.

"I'm not going to let you bully my little sister, nor my cousins," she said boldly.

Andrew chuckled.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite Hufflepuff perfect. I guess I should congratulate you at making six-year perfect as well. So have you finally decided to accept my offer to go out on a date with me, Victoire?" asked Andrew, confidently.

Despite herself, Victoire felt her cheeks heat up a little.

"First off, Andrew, my boyfriend, Teddy, who is also our 'ead boy, told you to stop flirting with me. And, secondly, ee'f you z'ink z'at I'll let you punish my cousins and none of your own 'ouse, you're sadly mistaken," Victoire replied.

Andrew's smirk immediately turned into a sneer as he said, "How about this? We just pretend that none of this ever happened."

"And why would I do z'at?" Victoire asked, somewhat confused.

"I'm sure that you don't want your family in trouble and I don't want to lose any points. So, as far as the teaching staff is concerned, this fight never happened," Andrew said smoothly.

Against her better judgment, Victoire agreed to his offer and quickly led her family, along with a grateful Drake Thomas, out of the green house.

While Victoire lectured them about the wrongs of fighting, Rose looked back and frowned when she saw Andrew grab Malfoy by the shoulder and began whispering to him. Rose had a bad feeling that this wouldn't be the last time they would have to cross wands with the likes of them.


	4. Hero worship and and a revenge plot

** Authors note... Well chapter four is finely up so I hope you enjoy it. I also want to thank you for all the support you have been giving this story and I hope to have your continued support. PS. please review! They help us writers improve our craft:) **

Rose was sitting quietly, at her usual spot, in the back of the library while she did her homework. Normally, she would be as happy as a Cheering Charm when she was doing homework; however, today was different because she was supposed to be tutoring Albus in Transfiguration. Unfortunately, he had yet to show up so they could get started. _"Probably signing more autographs," _Rose thought, somewhat irritated.

Ever since word got out about their confrontation with Malfoy and his goons, the whole school, except for Slytherin, was practically parading him around on a daily basis. They were calling him "The Hero of Hogwarts." Furthermore, James and Fred asked the three of them to join their group, which the other students and a handful of professors called the "Golden Marauders." While Rose and Dominique rejected their offer, Albus immediately accepted it and now his head was getting a little overly inflated.

James told Albus that he would have to watch his back because Malfoy would definitely want some payback. But as the weeks went by, neither Malfoy nor his goons had made a move on anyone. Fred had commented that they must've scared them so bad that they wouldn't dare try anything again; however, Rose had the sneaking suspicion their luck wasn't that good.

After waiting another half an hour, Rose began to pack up her books. Suddenly, Albus came rushing in, slightly out of breath. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Rosie. James and some of the older students wanted to hang out for a…hey! Why are you leaving?" Albus asked with surprise. Rose glared at him and then suddenly cracked him on the arm with her book. "Ow! What was that for?" Albus shouted, as he rubbed his arm. "You're an hour late and you made me sit here by myself just so you could hang out and show off with a bunch of second and third years!" Rose said angrily, as she began repeatedly hitting him with her book. "Ow! Wait! Ow! Rose stop! Ow! Hey, I'm sorry I'm late. It won't happen again," Albus pleaded, as he feebly attempted to block his cousin's onslaught. "Sorry? We only have three minutes of study time left so I'm bashing it into that big, thick, head of yours," Rose continued, angrily.

After a couple of more well-placed hits, she quickly grabbed her bag and made her way out of the library; however, Rose didn't get very far because Albus grabbed her arm. "Hey, I'm sorry. I'll never be late again," he said, apologetically. When he saw Rose's resolve lessen a bit he continued, "Could we still have our study session? Please! I promise I won't even gripe about the work load."

Rose looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling brightly at him. "Okay, Albus, but only because you need my help to pass your Transfiguration test. And since you were so late for our study session, we'll also get started on your D.A.D.A. essay as well," Rose said gleefully, as she began to unpack her books and parchment. "That…that sounds like fun," Albus said lamely, as he took his seat next to Rose, for what he knew would be a long afternoon.

After their extra-long study session, Rose and Albus made their way to the Clock Tower Courtyard where they met up with Dominique and Jess, who were sitting on a bench.

"So, Albus, how was your study session?" Jess asked curiously, as he passed him the quaffle. "Long! I swear, if I had to memorize one more thing, I would have to start removing memories," Albus groaned. "Whatever the case, that's done and now I don't have to worry about it anymore." "Until tonight, anyway," Rose commented. "We still have to finish your D.A.D.A. essay," she reminded him, which made Albus frown again. "Merlin, Rose! You're worse than a Dementor, sometimes! Do you know that?" Albus said, as he ducked a playful swat from Rose.

Rose sighed, somewhat annoyed, and replied, "Well, if you're through being childish, Albus, how about we go visit Hagrid?" "Who?" Jess and Dominique asked simultaneously. Rose looked at them, as if they asked her who Harry Potter was. "What do you mean who is…," then suddenly, it dawned on her. "Oh, how can I be so stupid? Of course you don't know who he is. Sometimes I forget that not everybody knows him," Rose said. "Wait. 'agrid? Zat eez zee half-giant who led us to zee boats, no?" Dominique inquired. Albus nodded, "Yep, that's him. He was good friends with our parents when they went to Hogwarts." "I've never met a half-giant before. Could we go now?!" Jess asked excitedly. Rose smiled brightly and replied, "Sure! Let's go!"

The four quickly made their way down to Hagrid's hut. When they reached the old, mossy house, Rose knocked on the door and called out, "Hagrid are you there? It's me, Rose!" There was a moment of silence followed by the sound of objects being moved and low whispers. The door slowly opened, revealing the bearded giant. Rose almost smiled when she heard Jess whisper _"wicked"_ from behind her.

"Rosie! Albus! It's nice to see ya'," Hagrid said happily, before moving aside to let them all inside the hut. "Come on in. Do you want some tea?" And just then, as if on cue, a loud whistle came from a tea kettle on the stove.

While the four took their seats around a large table, Hagrid grabbed his tea pot and began to pour tea into four small cups and one large cup. "So who are your friends?" Hagrid asked, as he passed out the cups. Rose cleared her throat before answering. "Hagrid, I would like to introduce to you our cousin, Dominique and our friend, Jess Davies. Guys, this is Hagrid…what's _that_?!" Rose suddenly shrieked, which made everyone around her jump.

When Dominique followed where Rose's eyes were looking she let out her own shriek, making a massive pale blue bat with ghostly green eyes fly out of a dark corner and across the room.

"What _is_ that Hagrid?!" Albus asked, as he pulled out his wand. Before Hagrid could answer, Jess spoke first, "I know what it is. That's a Russian Specter Bat. I've never seen one that big before!" "That's not just any Russian Specter Bat. That's Daisy! Ain't she a beaut?!" Hagrid said, as he admired the winged creature. "Got her off a traveling salesmen, I did," he continued with pride.

"That eez great…uh, Hagrid, eez eet? But will you do me a favor and put zee bat somewhere more suitable? Like…I don't know…a cage!" Dominique shouted. "A cage?! Why I could never put poor Daisy in a cage. It'll make her miserable. And being locked up gives her terrible headaches," Hagrid said sadly, as he pet the blue bat.

For the rest of the visit, Rose and Dominique sat nervously on the other side of the hut and away from Daisy. When it approached dinner time the four said their goodbyes and quickly made their way back to the castle and towards the Great Hall.

"Eet eez 'ard to believe zat was zee same Hagrid zat brought Uncle Harry to 'ogwarts all zose years ago, no?" Dominique said. She then smiled and said excitedly, "Alzough, he could use a trim and maybe some new clothes as well. Oh! Do you sink he'd let me give him a makeover?" "Uh, no," Rose replied quickly. "But you do have a point. It's hard to believe that our goofy family did all those amazing things," she said with amusement. "Yeah, I know what you mean," Albus added. "It's like, when I hear people talk about how my dad stopped Voldemort or anything else he did. All I see is the corny dad who taught me how to fly my first broom."

As they got closer to the Great Hall, Rose frowned when she saw Jess had a faraway look in his eye. "Hey, Jess, are you okay?" Rose asked curiously. Jess was immediately knocked out of his trance and gave Rose an apologetic look. "Sorry. I spaced out there for a minute," he said with a slight blush.

Before Rose could ask what he was thinking so hard about, they entered the Great Hall. Jess and Dominique quickly left for their own table, while Rose and Albus went to their usual spot with their fellow first-year Gryffindors. But much to Rose's annoyance, when they took their seats, James and Fred, along with a few other second and third years, came to sit with them.

"Why, if it ain't my little brother. Kick any Slytherin ass lately?" James asked smugly. Albus shook his head and replied, "Nope. They don't even approach me anymore," he said arrogantly, not noticing the eye roll from Rose.

James smiled proudly. Then he quickly grabbed his cup and held it high into the air so everyone in the Great Hall could see it. "A toast to my little brother, Albus and my cousins, Rose and Dominique, for putting a bunch of slimy snakes in their place and may we follow their example when we crush Slytherin in our next Quidditch match!" There was a loud cheer that thundered throughout the hall. Rose could only roll her eyes at the spectacle. She never liked overly-cocky people.

Rose was about to begin enjoying her dinner when Malfoy caught her attention from across the hall. She expected him to be furious, but he was only smirking. He then noticed Rose looking him and shot her an evil look. Rose then realized that her suspicion was just confirmed. Malfoy would be gunning for Albus. And the way Albus kept pumping up his own ego, he was making himself an all-too-easy target.

* * *

Scorpius was slowly walking to his next class. _"He gets a few lucky shots and that makes him bloody prince of the school," _he thought bitterly.

It had almost been two weeks since they got their asses handed to them. And "they" meant Nott, Goyl and Dolvov. After all, he and Vaisey were the only ones that didn't get taken down. Whatever the case, that didn't stop Andrew from showing themwhat would happen to failures.

Scorpius winced slightly just thinking about it. When their "lesson" was finished one of the seventh-years cast a silencing charm on both he and Vaisey, making sure that neither of them could speak nor write about what had happened.

The next day, Vaisey was dead set on getting revenge on Potter and the two "Weaselette's." However, Scorpius managed to calm down his friend and convince him that Potter was too alert and it was better to "wait in the grass" and strike when he least expected it.

Scorpius was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice Avery coming up to him until she was right next to him. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy, "Avery said smirking, while walking twice as fast to compensate for her short legs in order to keep up with him.

Despite his wandering thoughts, Scorpius easily matched Avery's smirk with one of his own."Good afternoon, my lady. Avery, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Scorpius said with a mockingly polite tone.

Avery giggled before smiling up at him. "If you don't mind, Mr. Malfoy, I would like it if you would do me the honor of helping me write my Potions paper," she asked sweetly.

Neither was able to carry on the play-acting for long and soon they both began to laugh. Whenever they had to take one of those Lady and Gentleman classes, they would always mock the teachers for using overly-dramatic politeness. Scorpius and Avery ended up liking the bit so much they play-acted together many times. Of course, that was only when nobody was looking. After all, they still had their threatening reputations to uphold.

"Two years and that bit is _still_ funny," Scorpius said between laughs before finally settling down. "Well, anyway, since you asked so politely, yes, I can help you."

Avery smiled brightly at him and replied, "Oh, thank you. I r-...," but stopped mid-sentence when Scorpius raised his hand.

"But _only_ if you'll help me in Charms," he continued.

"Sure, no problem," Avery said smiling, as they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

They took their seats behind Nott and Vaisey. As Scorpius started to unload his books, Avery leaned over to whisper in his ear. "By the way, you left breakfast before the owls came and one of them left a letter with the Malfoy crest on it. It's addressed to you,"she said, as she quietly passed the letter to him.

Scorpius was thoroughly confused as he looked at the envelope. His parents had already sent their weekly letter to him. He was just about to open it, but decided to shove it back into his pocket when he heard the classroom door burst open and saw Professor Nott come marching into the room.

The professor immediately began speaking. "Take out your text books and open to page one hundred and fifty-two," he ordered sternly. While the class located their page, Professor Nott cast a spell onto a piece of chalk, making it fly off his desk and hover in front of the chalkboard.

Not caring if everyone was ready or not, the professor began. "Can anyone tell me what the use of the Verdimillious Charm is?" he said slowly, while the piece of chalk began copying what he said onto the board.

Scorpius wasn't the least bit surprised when Rose Weasley's hand was the only hand that shot up. Professor Nott, however, seemed to completely ignore her. "Anyone?" the Professor repeated. Rose began to bounce anxiously in her seat a little, as she kept her hand high in the air.

Avery leaned over towards Scorpius again. "If the professor makes her wait any longer, she might explode," she said half-whispering, half-giggling. Scorpius responded with an amused chuckle.

After waiting few more minutes longer, Professor Nott finally took mercy on Rose and called on her to answer the question. "The Verdimillious can have one or two uses," Rose began. "If one quickly casts the charm, while aiming for a specific target, if done correctly, it will cause a discharge to explode all around the attended victim."

"And the second use," Professor Nott asked in a monotone voice. Scorpius decided to answer, just to mess with "Miss Know-it-all." He quickly raised his hand, beating the "Weaselette" by a second.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Nott said coolly.

Scorpius smiled when he saw the annoyed look the "Weaselette" threw at him. "If one draws out the casting, while saying the incantation slowly and waving the wand in a circle overhead and aiming for thin air, the energy will be thrown from the wand tip, exploding several meters away and an illuminating light will brighten up the entire room for a short period of time. For as long as the light from the spell lasts, objects hidden by dark magic will be revealed," Scorpius answered confidently.

Professor Nott gave an approving look towards his Slytherin charge. "Very good. Five points each for Slytherin and Gryffindor." The professor then began his long lecture about the properties of the spell while the class took notes and tried to keep up.

Later that night, the first-year Slytherins were all in their common room, as they had agreed. Scorpius and Avery were helping each other with their homework. Vaisey and Jackson played a very one-sided game of chess on the floor, which allowed Isabella and Megan to sit on the couch, across from Avery and Scorpius, as they read their magazines.

After about an hour of comfortable silence, Vaisey began ranting in frustration, especially after losing to Jackson for the fifth time. "I don't see why we just can't hex him and be done with it!"

Scorpius yawned with boredom before answering. "Because, if we openly hex Potter, we'll lose points and then Andrew will kill us. No. We have to get our revenge in a way that Potter knows it was us, without any proof that it was us," Scorpius explained carefully.

Isabella, becoming interested in the conversation, gave Scorpius a curious look. "And how do you plan on doing that? It's not like you can find him alone. He always has his blasted family around!" said Isabella with irritation.

Scorpius became irritated as well. "I haven't figured that part out yet. Hexing him would be the easy part. It's the not-getting-caught part that eludes me," he said in frustration.

Avery sighed and replied, "What I don't get is why we are only focusing on Potter? Why not any of the "Weaselettes?" For instance, the one with the flower-sounding name…uh, Rose was it? Or what about that annoying little French blond one?" she asked menacingly.

Scorpius shrugged lazily. "I have no interest in the French Veela," he said with a smirk, noticing the disappointed look on Avery's face. "As for the other "Weaselette," between school, free time and plotting against Potter, I'm afraid I don't have the time to mess with the redhead know-it-all. However, if you wish to terrorize her on your own accord then, by all means, be my guest," said Scorpius with amusement. Avery's frown deepened, as she slumped in her seat while muttering under her breath that _"doing it by yourself was no fun."_

Just then, the Slytherin common room door slid open, allowing Goyle and Dolvov to come stumbling in with stupid grins on their faces, while carrying a bunch of sweets in their big meaty hands.

Megan, who was silently reading her magazine during the entire conversation between her fellow Slytherins, hopped out of her seat and walked up to the oversized first-years and grabbed a cupcake from each of them. When the two boy were about to protest, Megan flashed a little smile, which instantly made the two boys walk away with their cheeks as red as a Gryffindor.

When Megan came back to her seat she handed Isabella one of her cupcakes, as she took a dainty bite from her own. While she was chewing she noticed the mixed looks she was receiving from the group. "What?" she asked, as she swallowed her bite of cupcake.

"How did you manage to get them to let you take some of their food? When I've tried that I've almost lost an arm," Vaisey said with a mixture of shock and annoyance.

"My sister and her friends told me that _any_ boy could become putty in _any_ girl's hands by simply batting her eyelashes and flashing a sweet smile," Megan replied slyly.

When it was time for curfew, Scorpius began getting changed into a pair of sweatpants and his favorite Falmouth Falcons jersey. As he started to hang up his jumper, the letter that Avery gave him fell out of the pocket. He quickly bent down, picked it up and gave it a better look.

Like Avery had said, it did, in fact, have the Malfoy crest on it and the return address was from Malfoy Manor. Scorpius then tore open the envelope and, as he began to read the letter, was surprised to discover who had written it.

_"Dear Scorpi, _

_I know I said I wasn't going to write to you while you're gone because I'll be too busy snooping around your room, but I've changed my mind. And don't start thinking that I can't make up my own mind! Besides, I don't have to. Like Mother always says, "I'm a woman and I have the right to remain inconsistent." _

_And I am a young woman, Scorpi. Father says so. He said being nine years old is a very important age for a pureblood witch. Father also started to sign me up for those Lady and Gentleman classes, as well as dance and training in a musical instrument of my choice. _

_I ended up picking the piano instead of the violin. I remember how many blisters you had on your fingers and I don't want my fingers to bleed all the time. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting started with it all._

_By the way, thank you for the emerald and silver serpent necklace. It was a lovely gift! I've wanted it for months and I'm glad you got it for me._

_So, anyway, whatever trouble you've been up to remember - don't get caught! And I expect you to write me back. Not because I want you to, but because it's common courtesy._

_From your smarter and more talented little sister,_

_Lyra Bellathorn Malfoy_

_P.S. The Chocolate Frog stash that you hid in your room was delicious, by the way._

Scorpius laughed, although a tad bit annoyed. _"So much for my late night snack during Christmas break," _he grumbled to himself, as he put the letter into his trunk. Despite losing his sweets and knowing that she somehow got into his room, Scorpius was glad that Lyra missed him enough to write. _"I'll write her a reply tomorrow after class and send it out from the Owlery; however, tonight I need some rest,_" Scorpius said to himself, as he lay down and rest his head on his pillow.

* * *

Rose was aroused from sleep by loud yelling and repeated banging. When she opened her tired eyes she saw Amelia banging on the bathroom door. "Amelia, for Merlin's sake, what are you yelling about?!"

Rose frowned when Amelia didn't answer. Rose was about to call out to her again when Olivia Brown spoke from the other end of the room.

"Don't bother. She and Ms. Vane have been fighting all morning. I'm surprised that you managed to stay asleep this whole time," said the curly blond with a giggle, as she put on her uniform.

"That's more than I can say for me," added Samantha Holmes. "Of all the things that I thought would kill me in a world of magic, dying from exhaustion was at the bottom of my list," she whined from beneath a pile of blankets and pillows. Rose and Olivia couldn't help the small laugh that escaped from both their lips.

Their amusement was short lived, however, when the bathroom door finally opened and revealed a fully-dressed and annoyed Natalie Vane. Out of all of Rose's roommates, Natalie was her least favorite. She would always hog the bathroom and take most of the closet space. In short, she was completely inconsiderate. _"She's even worse than Dominique," _Rose thought humorously to herself.

"Geez, Wood. Here, it's all yours," Natalie said sweetly, as she moved past the fuming blond, who quickly went into the bathroom. But just as the bathroom door was about to close, Vane spoke again. "By the way, you don't have to actually be a harpy to make your dream team, you know." With that said, Amelia flew out of the bathroom with her wand drawn, ready to hex the dark-haired girl's hair off.

Rose, however, managed to get between them.

"That will be enough of that!" Rose said sternly. "Now, we are at the proper age where we handle our problems, not with violence, but with compromise and understanding," Rose continued calmly. "Natalie, leave and have a lovely breakfast. Amelia, enjoy your morning shower." With one final glare at each other, both girls went their separate ways. Rose breathed a sigh of relief and then began to get herself ready for the day.

When Rose was finished getting dressed she quickly made her way down to the Gryffindor common room. Rose loved their common room. It was nice and cozy and it had several very interesting portraits to talk to. She also loved it when she could spend her evenings snuggled up in the big red comfy chair in front of the fire, drinking cocoa and finishing any leftover homework or reading a new book she found at the library.

As she approached the exit door of the common room, she was glad to see Albus was already there waiting for her. "I just saw Natalie walk by. She didn't look all that happy," Albus said knowingly. "Trouble in the girl's dorm?"

Rose sighed heavily. "Just the usual. Amelia and Natalie were fighting again."

"Do they fight often? I've never heard them fight before, "Albus asked, as he opened the portrait door and they both stepped out of the common room.

Rose smiled and replied, "That's because the older girls cast a silencing charm onto our dorm room."

"Is the fighting that bad?" Albus questioned again.

"It's, normally, just little arguments. Like, taking too long in the shower or being too loud at night. But this morning they were practically ready to crush each other into oblivion. Thank Merlin, I was there or Natalie would be bald right now or worse," Rose replied with seriousness.

"In all honesty, Rose, I think losing all her hair would be the worst outcome for her," Albus said, making them both laugh out loud.

When they finally reached the Great Hall it was already packed. As the two traveled further down the length of the Gryffindor table, Rose spotted an open chair at the end. It didn't take long for Amelia and Lysander to join them.

They were right in the middle of talking about this weekend's Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin when Shawn McLaggen appeared and called out, "Mail's here!" Rose looked up and smiled when she saw dozens of owls flying throughout the hall, dropping letters and packages to its intended witch or wizard.

Suddenly, Rose felt a pair of talons land upon her head. Instead of panicking, she slowly looked towards Albus, who was smiling at her. She then realized which owl was currently perched upon her head.

"Good morning, Remy. What did dad send me today?" Rose asked, as she tried not to giggle, knowing that when she moved, Remy would start pecking at her head. "Albus, would you do me a favor and relieve Remy from his load?" Rose asked, trying to remain still. Albus reached over and unhooked the letter from the bird's leg. He then gave the owl a piece of bacon and sent the bird on his way. While Albus read his own letter, Rose began to read hers:

_"Dear Rosie,_

_You have no idea how much I miss you. I hope you're keeping up with your studies and staying out of trouble._

_As for around the house, things have been a little quiet around here without you. Well, except that Ronald is currently in the doghouse for teaching my little Huey how to fly a broom, after I told him not to. He's taking me out to dinner and for some book shopping to make up for it._

_As for my S.P.E.W agenda, things have been going rather well. We're getting a lot of support from the ministry as well as the magic community._

_Well, that pretty much is all that's going on. You have fun and I'll see you in a few months for Christmas break._

_Your loving Mother"_

Rose smiled, as she tucked the letter into her jumper. But before she could gather up her things to leave, Drake suddenly yelled out, "Hey everyone! Check this out!" Everyone soon surrounded him and Rose looked over Olivia's shoulder to see Drake holding a copy of the Daily Prophet with a picture of an older, dark-skinned wizard, who had an emotionless expression and was shaking hands with her Uncle Percy, who was the Minister of Magic. But what really caught Rose's eye was the paper's headline:

**"Blaise Zabini Gains the High-Ranking Position of Minister of Law Enforcement."**

Then Drake began to read aloud:

**"A sign of moving forward or the beginnings of a Pureblood-controlled Ministry, Lavender Finnegan has all the facts.**

**It is known that, officially, Blaise Zabini was one of the few pureblood wizards who stayed neutral during the second Wizarding War. However, for someone who claims to be "neutral," Zabini spends an awful amount of time with the notorious, former DeathEater, Drako Malfoy and accused Dark Magic user, Theodore Nott. **

**When faced with these questions, Zabini replied: **

**_"Mr. Malfoy is an old friend, who already served his time in Azkaban for his actions during the war and is now a respected and successful businessman. As for Mr. Nott, I do not comment on such rumors. I will, however, tell you this. If there was any speculation on Mr. Nott's integrity, do you think he would be teaching at the school that my children and wife are_**_ **attending?"**_

**This particular reporter is not buying what he's selling. From what I gathered, Mr. Nott and Mrs. Zabini are teaching our children that the Malfoys are taking over the business world and Blaise Zabini is now our head of Law Enforcement.**

**Didn't we nearly sacrifice all we had in order to liberate Voldemort, only to be back where we started nineteen years** **later?"**

"I can't believe this!" Drake said through gritted teeth.

Albus looked at him with curious eyes. "Drake why are you so angry about this? It doesn't affect you," he asked.

Drake then folded up his paper and frowned deeply. He replied, "You wouldn't understand."

He stood up to leave, but stopped when Amelia placed a hand on his shoulder. "We won't be able to if you don't tell us."

Drake sat back down in his seat and drew in a deep calming breath. "Blaise Zabini is my uncle."

Everyone stared wide-eyed at him until Rose finally broke the silence. "Holy cricket! You're related to the Zabini family?" Drake responded with a silent nod.

"Hey, that means you and Pyro are cousins!" Lysander realized out loud with shock in his voice.

Rose frowned when she saw Drake glare at the table when Lysander mentioned his Slytherin cousin. As if reading her mind, Drake elaborated. "Do you remember when you and Albus saved me from getting hexed by Malfoy?" Rose and Albus both nodded in agreement. "They weren't beating on me just for kicks. Well, at least Malfoy wasn't, anyway. Before you guys came along, Malfoy was teaching me a lesson and telling me not to talk to my cousin, Paavai."

"Who?" Albus interrupted.

"Paavai. She's Pyro's little sister and she's a Ravenclaw in our year. She is…or _was_ my best friend before our mothers started fighting a year ago," Drake said sadly.

"Do you know why they were fighting?" Rose asked softly. She felt sorry for Drake. She didn't want to think about what she would do if she and Albus couldn't be friends anymore.

"I don't know," Drake continued. "One day our mums were like sisters and then, all of the sudden, they were screaming in each other's faces. I mean, the way they act with each other now you would never know they were twin sisters."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Amelia asked, sounding understanding.

"I didn't know how you would react," Drake replied nervously.

"We would _never_ judge you on who you're related to. If we did, would we be friends with Jess, even though he has that slimy git, Vaisey, for a cousin?" Albus said, laughing, which made everyone else around him laugh as well.

* * *

Scorpius was killing time in one of the fourth floor corridors during his free period. Normally, he would hang out with Avery and Vaisey during this time, but today they were both doing last-minute studying for today's Transfiguration test so he was on his own.

He was about to head down to class early when he saw Paavai run past him with her hands covering her face. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she quickly ducked into the ladies' room. Scorpius quickly followed behind her, but stopped when he reached the bathroom door. He gave a quick look around to make sure no one was nearby. When he was sure no one was around he followed in after her.

The first thing he heard was the sound of muffled sniffles coming from behind one of bathroom stalls. As he stepped closer to the stall, a ghost of a Ravenclaw girl suddenly drifted through it. "What are you doing here?" she asked sternly. "This is a place for crying, whining and moaning," the ghost sobbed weakly, as she floated past him.

Scorpius shot the annoying ghost a mean glare before he looked back at the stall. "Paavai, are you in there?" he asked quietly.

There was a moment of silence before a small voice replied from behind the stall door. "No," she croaked.

"You didn't think that was actually going to work, did you?" Scorpius asked while smirking, as he leaned against the stall next to Paavai's.

There was a weak laugh, followed by few more sniffles. "No, but it was worth a shot."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Paavai, why are you hiding in a bathroom stall?" Scorpius asked, not bothering to hide his own amusement.

"Because… Because Zabini's don't cry," she cried.

"Come again?" Scorpius asked incredulously.

"Zabini's don't cry," Paavai repeated. "We don't feel sorry for ourselves and we most _definitely_ do not take crap from others. And, right now, I'm doing all three. So until I can walk out of here with my head held high, like the Zabini I'm supposed to be, I'm staying in this bathroom," Paavai explained lamely.

"Can you at least come out of the stall? It's not like I haven't seen you cry before," Scorpius replied, as he backed up a bit so the stall door could , any amusement he once had quickly vanished when he caught sight of Paavai's red, puffy eyes. She slowly walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest and began to sob.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked, surprised at himself for the serious tone in his voice.

"It's that stupid git, Potter," she sobbed into his jumper.

"Which one?" Scorpius growled.

"Both of them..," Paavai continued, "…but mostly that stupid James. They cornered me after my last class and asked me how a Death Eater, like my father, could gain the position of Minister of Law Enforcement. And then they said that my family was nothing more than a bunch of dirty, little cowards. But that's not true, Scorpius. I know it isn't. I saw Father's arm. There's no mark on it of any kind. He's not a coward so why would they say such a thing?" Paavai asked sobbing, as tears continued to roll down her face.

It took Scorpius a good half hour before he could help Paavai feel ready enough to leave the bathroom. When he reached his next class it took every ounce of restraint he had not to hex Potter into next week. He knew it would be bad politics if he went after James Potter. Even though James was only a second year, he was Pyro's problem. And even though Albus didn't talk as much as James, they were still together when he did it. And _that_ was enough for Scorpius.

After he took his seat next to Avery and Vaisey, he leaned over to them and spoke in a whisper. "Listen up. When we leave for Christmas break this week I want you two to think of some clever ways to get back at Potter," Scorpius said with an evil gleam in his eyes.


	5. Have a happy Wizard Chrismast

**uthors note... This story has been fully Edited. and thanks to the help of Lena Phoria Dominique and every other French character will be speaking in a cool french ascent Also I want to say thank you all for the massive support, your reviews are making me want to wright that much more and I am Hoping that I can Gain more reviews from you all as the story go's on:) P.S Also theirs is a new writer on this site who has a makings of a very good Drinny, the problem is that she is having trouble getting noticed and we all have been their so after you read this Chapter and hopefully leave me a Review:) and if like Ginny and Draco story's, look up IAmDracosGirl and give her your opinion good or bad. so now that done enjoy what you came here for ;)  
**

Rose was really trying to focus on her potions essay, but it was getting a little difficult with Amelia and Albus whispering to each every other minute."Will you two be quiet and work on your assignment?" Rose quietly whispered to them.

Both Amelia and Albus gave her apologetic looks before returning to their papers. Rose sighed with relief and happily returned to her own work. Her moment of happiness was short lived, however, because three minutes later Amelia and Albus returned to their conversation in hushed tones. "So, Albus, are you going to today's Quidditch match?"Amelia asked quietly.

"You bet I'm going. I've been looking forward to this match all year!" Albus said with hushed excitement.

"Yeah, we're going to crush Slytherin big time!" Amelia said, sounding equally as excited.

"If you two don't shut up, Mrs. Zabini is going to put you in detention while everybody else goes to the game!" Rose whispered sternly.

Luckily for Rose, both Amelia and Albus took her warning seriously and did not talk for the rest of class.

When the class was over, the three then made their way down to the Pitch. "So, Albus, isn't your brother playing his first game today?" Amelia asked curiously.

Albus smiled proudly at the aspect of watching his older brother play."Yeah, he and Fred are replacing the two beaters they lost during the last game against Ravenclaw."

Amelia grimaced slightly at the memory of the Ravenclaw game Albus spoke of. Teddy caught the snitch before the other team did, but the team lost most of their veteran members. Despite Gryffindor getting the win, they'd been forced to dip into their reserves.

"I'll never understand what the big deal is about Quidditch. I mean, it's _so_ barbaric!" Rose ranted suddenly.

Both Albus and Amelia looked like they were about to explode in protest. But before Albus could say anything, someone let out a loud "Ha!" right behind them, which made the three of them practically jump out of their school robes. Once Rose's heart was back to its normal rhythm, she turned around and saw James, Fred and Teddy standing there, in full Quidditch gear, along with the entire Gryffindor team standing behind them."I can't believe my own cousin would speak such blasphemy! What would Uncle Ron say?" said James, as he nudged Fred's shoulder playfully.

"I'm sure our poor uncle would have a bloody heart attack," replied Fred with his signature big, goofy grin.

Rose looked at her cousins frowning. She had her hands on her hips, which made her look like a childish version of Grandmother Weasley. " he would Probably say the same thing that Aunt Ginny and Aunt Angelina would say, if they ever find out that you're sneaking out after curfew - not to mention, how you're doing it."Rose then smiled, as she watched both James' and Fred's faces turn pale as a ghost. When Albus first told Rose that James had stolen their father's Marauders map from his home office and that he'd been using it for late-night scheming and prank setups for unsuspecting Slytherins, she wanted to run tell her mum about what her cousins were up to. But after much begging from Albus, she agreed not to tell. That, however, didn't mean she wasn't going to let James and Fred know she knew all about their late-night mischief.

Before James or Fred had the chance to ask Rose how she knew about the map, Teddy interrupted them. "That's enough you three," he said with an amused laugh. "Now, this is my last game before graduation and I'd rather play it without my family bickering."

"I can't believe this is your last year at Hogwarts, Teddy." Albus said with a Disappointed, frown.

"I know what you mean, Al. But I'm kinda looking forward to leaving Hogwarts so I can get started on my Auror training," Teddy said excitedly.

"So, baby brother, who's your friend?" James asked suddenly, as if he just suddenly noticed Amelia standing with them.

Albus was about to answer, but Amelia beat him to it. "His _friend_ can speak for herself, thank you. And my name is Amelia. Amelia Wood," as she introduced herself confidently.

"Amelia. Yes! Albus told me about you. So are you going to try out for the team next year?" James asked.

Amelia nodded her head eagerly and said, "You bet I am! In fact, we all are!"

"Good. With Teddy and most of the team graduating this year, we'll have lost most of our team. And I have it on good authority that our future captain, William Lee, will be holding tryouts for every position next year," James said while grinning ear to ear.

"Well, that's not until next year, James. Today, we have a bunch of Slytherins to take down so let's get out there!" Teddy said with a shout while leading his team out towards the Pitch.

Rose and Albus both tried hard not to laugh, as they watched Teddy go into full "Quidditch mode." Out of the entire Potter, Weasley and Lupin broods - or what Uncle George liked to call "The P.W.L Brigade" - Teddy and James were the most competitive and, probably, the most obsessed about Quidditch, out of all of them. And _that_ was saying something.

When Rose, Albus and Amelia reached the Gryffindor-side stands, it was already filled with every Gryffindor student in the school. Rose was having some trouble hearing with all the loud cheering and the repeated chants of, "Go! Go Gryffindor!" It was _so_ loud that the stands were shaking.

They were all about to sit down when Rose spotted a speck of yellow amongst the massive sea of Red. Quickly realizing who it was, Rose yelled, "Victoire!" as loudly as she could. She had no idea how, but somehow Victoire heard her because she turned around to see who was calling her. When she spotted Rose, Victoire smiled instantly and began to wave for them to come over.

As the three got closer, Rose became even happier when she saw Victoire sitting with their cousins, Molly and Stacy Longbottom as well. When Rose was within arm's length, Molly lunged her herself at Rose."Rose! You're here! Sorry we haven't talked that much, but you know how classes are!" Rose was about to reply, but was cut off when Molly resumed talking. "And, hey, to you too, Albus! It's just a shame that you're not playing. And who is this? Oh, how I _love_ meeting new people! What's your name?" Molly asked, as she paused a second to wait for a response.

"Amelia. Amelia Wood," said Amelia, nervously.

"Oh, and what a positively beautiful name?! My name is Molly Weasley. Flavored bean?" Molly asked, as she held her hand out to Amelia.

Before Amelia could say, _"Yes"_ or_ "No,"_ the announcer, Terry Rowengartner, began speaking, as his voice thundered loudly across the Pitch."Welcome to the final game of the year! And, man, this is going to be a nail biter! Not only are these two teams neck and neck for the Quidditch Cup, but this will also be the end to a seven-year rivalry between Gryffindor's Teddy Lupin and Slytherin's Sebastian Haneda. And here they come!"

Rose smiled and cheered loudly when she saw the Gryffindor team come flying out of the gate. She then had to cover her ears when the entire crowd went wild with cheers. While the rest of the team flew around the pitch, Teddy came towards them and leaned over with a charming smile. "What do you say, 'Toir? A little kiss for luck?"

Victoire responded with an eye roll before gently pulling him down by his jersey and planting a kiss firmly upon his lips, making all the girls around them squeal…and Albus gag. When she pulled away she blushed slightly while Teddy's usually electric-blue hair turned into a fiery red.

"Good luck, mon ours duveteux!" she sang softly.

About two hours into the game, Gryffindor had only a one point lead. It was becoming something of a war zone with both teams losing quite a few players. Both Teddy and Sebastian were giving orders to their teams while searching for the illusive snitch. "Man, I hate to say anything nice about a Slytherin, but it looks like Sebastian has Teddy matched as a seeker," Albus said, as he intently watched the game.

"Yeah, and Andrew and Pryo are amazing chasers," added Amelia.

"But none of zem, 'ave anysing on my Teddy," Victoire said proudly, as she resumed cheering loudly.

Suddenly, the announcer shouted excitedly, "And Andrew Nott has gotten another goal, making the score tied!"

Rose's nerves were getting a little more out of control with every minute the match went on. "Do you think Teddy will be able to get the win?" Rose asked nervously, to no one in particular.

Before someone could answer, the announcer's shouting interrupted them. "Teddy has spotted the snitch!"

Everyone watched excitedly as Teddy gave immediate chase to the fast-moving golden ball. Teddy was just about to grab hold of it when, suddenly, Sebastian came up from behind and crashed into him, using his own body to bash against Teddy's. Both boys were neck and neck with each of their hands mere inches away from the snitch. As if sharing the same thought, they both leapt off their brooms and came crashing to the ground with an earthshaking thud. The crowd appeared to panic, but no one was panicking more than Victoire. She, Rose and the rest of their family came rushing out of the stands and over to Teddy.

"Mon ours! Mon ours!" Victoire cried, as she placed her head on Teddy's chest to make sure he was still breathing.

Rose breathed a sigh of relief when Teddy began to stir. He then mumbled something under his breath.

"What?" everyone asked in unison.

Teddy smiled and, somewhat painfully, lifted his arm into the air and opened his hand to reveal the golden snitch.

"We won," he chuckled wearily.

The announcer, Terry Rowengartner, then suddenly shouted, "Teddy caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup!"

* * *

Rose, Albus, Amelia, Jess and Dominique were sitting in one of the train compartments, each doing their own thing to pass the time. While Rose did some light reading, Albus and Jess were busy playing exploding snap while Dominique was quite content on giving a protesting Amelia a new hairdo.

They were on their way back to King's Cross for their Christmas break. And, as much as Rose loved the past three months at Hogwarts, she was thrilled to be returning home to see her family again.

She was feeling great, although she wished all of her friends could feel the same way she was feeling right now. But, sadly, Lorcan and Lysander would be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas on the account that both of their parents would be in Scotland, studying the Lockness monster.

When Rose voiced her concerns about the two of them being alone for Christmas, Lorcan simply gave her hug while Lysander reassured her that they and their parents had already exchanged their gifts. He explained that the older students, that stayed behind as well, would be throwing an amazing Christmas party and they'd be fine.

"So what are you three doing for Christmas?" Amelia asked, as she finally stopped struggling against Dominique's attempts to mess with her hair.

Rose pulled her eyes away from her book and smiled brightly at her. "Well, I expect Albus and I will be returning home to Godric's Hollow to spend time with our families for the first few days. Then we'll be going to the Burrow to have Christmas with the whole family."

"Don't forget the annual Christmas Quidditch match!" Albus added with an excited grin on his face.

"As for me," Dominique cut in, "My family will be staying at Shell Cottage for Christmas and zen we'll join zee rest of our family at zee Burrow."

"How about you, Amelia? Got anything special planned?" Rose asked, as she put her book back into her bag.

Amelia shrugged slightly. "Pretty much what w-...ouch! Easy on the hair, Dom!" Amelia said, whining, after Dominique had pulled a little too hard on her hair.

"Sorry, but eef you didn't move every second, zis would 'ave been over by now, no?" said Dominique, as she resumed working on Amelia's hair.

Sighing, Amelia continued, "Like I was saying, it's pretty much what we do every year. We wake up, open presents and then fly over to Granny Bell's house and then go out flying with mum and dad until dinner."

"Yeah, flying around with Oliver and Katie Wood. How boring. They're only the most popular players in the Professional Quidditch League!" Albus said, looking shocked at Amelia's lack of enthusiasm.

"Speak for yourself, Albus. After all, my family didn't stop an evil Dark wizard and practically rebuild the Ministry," Amelia was quick to point out.

"Oh, don't bozzer. Anysing not Quidditch, pales in comparison, no?" Dominique giggled.

"Hey, that's not true!" Albus replied, fuming.

"Yeah, Dom, you know that's not true," Rose scolded her.

"Thanks Rose," said Albus.

"You forgot about food," as all three girls broke out into laughter, making Albus glare at them. Before he could respond, Dominique squealed in delight.

"Voila! I am fini! And eet eez my _finest_ work!" Dominique declared, as she handed Amelia a hand mirror.

Amelia smiled when she saw her hair in a cute sideways ponytail.

"Oh, Dom, I love it!" Amelia gushed, as she turned her head back and forth while watching the ponytail being whipped across each shoulder.

Suddenly, Jess got up from his seat.

"Where you going, mate?" asked Albus.

"My parents are going to be picking up Michael and I as soon as we arive, so I have to go sit with _him_," Jess said with a slight grimace.

"Vaisey?! Why can't you just meet up with that twat on the platform," Albus questioned indignantly.

Jess looked as if he was going to reply, but Amelia spoke first.

"It's because they don't know that you're friends with the Potters and Weasleys, isn't it?" she asked.

Jess only responded with a stiff nod, "yes."

"Why would they care who we are?" Albus asked, sounding a little confused.

"Yeah, I mean if you want to be political about it, we're all Half-bloods so what's the problem?" asked Rose.

"Strangely enough, it's not about your blood statics," Jess reassured them.

"Zen what eez eet?" Dominique asked, sounding frustrated.

Jess replied, "My family had a tragic loss about five years ago. My Uncle Vaisey was killed in a Auror raid at his house. It was led by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."

The small train compartment became deathly quiet. Rose finally broke the silence. "Jess, I'm so sorry about your...," but Jess cut her off.

"No!" Jess said sternly, before softening a little. "Don't apologize. Not for him. He might've been my uncle, but he was still was a Deatheater. He…he needed to be taken down, although the rest of my family doesn't see it that way. All they see is that one of their own was killed in his own home." Jess paused and then said, "Well, I better get going."

He gave the three girls hugs and told Albus that he would owl him when he got home. As Rose watched Jess leave their compartment, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty that members of her own family had killed a member of her friend's family.

When the train finally came to a stop the three cousins said their goodbyes to Amelia and quickly made their way through the busy platform in search of their family. They didn't have to wait long because they quickly spotted a sea of red.

"Mum! Dad!" Rose squealed, as she ran towards her parents and was instantly embraced. "I'm so glad to see you! I missed you guys _so_ much!" said Rose happily.

"Oh, how I've missed you too my little flower," Rose's mum said, as she tightened her embrace.

"Mum, you're crushing me!" Rose giggled, as she tried to pull away from her mum's embrace, but was immediately pulled back in.

"Come on, Hermione. You're going to have to let her go so we can go home!" Ron laughed.

"No, I don't wanna let my precious little girl go _ever_ again," Hermione whined, but she regretfully released her grip. Rose gave her dad a big hug as well. She then turned around and smiled when she saw Albus practically being squeezed to death by her Aunt Ginny. Meanwhile, Dominique and her Aunt Fleur gave each other a couple of air kisses on each cheek.

"All right, kids. Let's get going!" Rose heard her Uncle Harry announce, as he draped his arms across James' and Albus' shoulders before disappearing with a low-sounding "pop!" Following that, a few more "pops" were heard, signaling the rest of her family's departures.

As both her parents placed gentle hands on her shoulders, Rose saw Jess in a heated argument with Vaisey and hoped that Jess would be okay during Christmas break.

And, with that, Rose and her parents apparated home.

* * *

Scorpius was right in the middle of putting on his new, expensive dress robes when he heard a soft knock coming from the other side of his bedroom door. He didn't bother to ask who it was before saying, "Come in," while he slipped on his cloak.

As he heard the door open and shut behind him, he turned around to see who it was and immediately broke out into laughter, when He saw his little sister wearing a pink, poofy dress with a big bow on the front.

"If you would like to keep that clever tongue of yours, I wouldn't continue laughing," Lyra said, bitingly.

"Take it easy, Lyra. I mean, have you actually _looked_ at what you're wearing?" Scorpius asked, as he tried to calm his laughter.

Lyra folded her arms and began to glare at her brother. "Yes, I _have_ seen it Scorpi," she said with a hiss. "It's repulsive, but Mother insisted that I wear it."

"Yes, well, maybe its karma," Scorpius teased, smirking at her.

"Well, if that's true, then why aren't _you_ in the pink dress?" Lyra quipped, with a little smirk of her own.

Scorpius smiled down at her and replied, "That's because I'm far too clever to ever get caught, even by a persistent thing like karma. Anyways, let's get down to the party. After all, it can't very well be a Malfoy Christmas party without the Malfoy children," he said, as he led his sister out of his room and down the stairs to the party.

When they entered the ballroom it was beyond packed with people, but this didn't surprise Scorpius. His family did this sorta thing often, but it was much different than when his grandparents threw one of their parties; for one thing, the music was more upbeat than that stuffy music his grandfather liked to play. both Scorpius and Lyra had just managed to get a few steps into the hall when their mother took notice of them. She quickly excused herself from her husband's side and gracefully walked towards them. "Oh, Scorpius, you look quiet dashing. And you, my little star, are looking very lovely indeed. See? I told you that dress would be _perfect_ for tonight," as Astoria gushed over them.

"Thanks, Mother," Scorpius and Lyra replied dully; however, Astoria didn't seem to notice.

"Now, children, I want you two to go to the library with the rest of the kids and we'll call you when dinner is ready." Astoria didn't wait for them to answer or to make sure they obeyed. She just returned to the party without giving them a second glance.

As Scorpius and Lyra approached the library, they noticed the room was divided into two different groups. The group gathered near the fireplace was the kids who had yet to go to Hogwarts. The ones who were gathered around the sitting area were those currently attending Hogwarts; years one and two, anyway. The older students were all at the main party, mingling with the adults. Lyra parted from her brothers side, and went towards the group by the fireplace, while Scorpius made his way towards his fellow classmates in the sitting area. Avery spotted him first and got up to give him a hug. "Merry Christmas, Scorpius! I'm so glad I got to see you over the holidays!" Avery exclaimed with a sing-song voice.

Before Scorpius could ask her why she was acting like a bimbo, she began to whisper in his ear. "Vaisey has set up a deal so we can get our hands on a more powerful potion."

When Avery finally let go of him he was able to fully see who he was going to sit with. Besides his usual friends, Avery, Vaisey and Paavai, there was Pryo Zabini and few of his friends as well.

"Salutations, Malfoy! I hear you and I share a vendetta against two particular families," Pryo said with a lazy grin.

"We do, indeed, Pryo," Scorpius said in a smooth tone. "And I hear you can obtain restricted items and smuggle them into Hogwarts. Is this true?" he continued with obvious skepticism. Scorpius knew all too well about the Slytherin smuggling ring. He was just baiting them so they would prove it to him.

Pryo's smirk grew to a slight smile. "Yeah, I can do this, but I must confess it's not just me, you see. Well, I might be the voice behind of the operation, but it's these two here who do all the clever handiwork, "Pryo said proudly, as he pointed at his fellow second years seated nearby.

Scorpius took a good look at the two Slytherins sitting beside the dark-skinned, Slytherin. On the left sat a very lovely girl with very soft features. She had long, honey-brown hair that hung loosely over her slight frame. She had deep ever-changing eyes, from blue to gray and green to gray, which Scorpius knew was the rarest mark of a Veela.

To Pryo's right, there stood a boy who, obviously, appeared bored. Scorpius saw that he had pitch back hair, which was slicked back and very similar to his own. The boy's eyes were like two black holes. They appeared as though, if you looked at them for too long, you would descend into insanity. Scorpius' thoughts were quickly interrupted when the girl suddenly spoke to him.

"My name is Emma. Emma Softcloud," she introduced herself while also checking her nails. "My job is to get your merchandise into Hogwarts undetected. And before you ask, "How do you do it?" Don't bother. I'm not telling. Besides, what kind of Slytherin would I be if I showed my hand to every cute boy who smirked at me," continued Emma while she fluttered her eyelashes at Scorpius.

This made Avery glare at her, which Emma easily picked up on. "Oh, what's the matter, little thing? Is he your boyfriend or something?" Emma said, slyly smirking, making both Scorpius and Avery blush a little.

But before either of them could say anything in response, Vaisey cut in. "And who's he?" Vaisey said, as he nodded towards the black-haired boy.

"I'm Nathaniel Crow. Let's just say I'm the one who can obtain these items or make them, if need be. It's a process I highly doubt a small mind, such as yours, would understand." he responded dryly,

Vaisey became furious. "How dare you speak to _me_ like that?!" Vaisey spat, as jumped to his feet and instantly pointed his wand straight at Nathaniel's face. To Vaisey's surprise, however, Nathaniel didn't even flinch. He just stood there, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Suddenly, Vaisey felt a piece of wood being pressed against his neck.

"Malfoy, would you be a doll and tell your friend to put his wand away?" Emma said sweetly, as she held the wand firmly at Vaisey's throat. Scorpius knew it wasn't an idle threat.

"Vaisey, sit down or you'll ruin our plans of payback against Saint Potter," Scorpius commanded coldly. Vaisey didn't move for a moment, but eventually nodded and retook his seat; however, he didn't hold back from glaring a new hole into Nathaniel's head.

"Listen, Pryo, are you going to help them or not?!" said Paavai, speaking for the first time. "Please help us! If not for them, then for me, your only sister," she spoke softly.

"Fine. We'll help. Merlin, Pav! You're worse than Mother sometimes!" Pryo complained, before turning his attention towards Nathaniel. "How long will it take you to make something appropriate for this situation?"

"Not long, I think. But I'll definitely have it finished before we return to Hogwarts," Nathaniel said with a drawl.

"Well, that just leaves the pay to discuss, now, doesn't it, Malfoy? That will be 15 galleons, up front," Pryo said with his hand held out.

Scorpius smirked, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small purse of galleons. "Will this cover it?" he asked, nonchalantly.

Pryo reached over to take the money from Scorpius, but Emma was much faster.

"You've got to love the absolute wealth and power of the Malfoys!" Emma said with a cheeky grin.

"So now that we've struck a deal, you'll have your item about the time we get back to Hogwarts," Pryo promised, as they all shook hands.

As if on cue, the head house elf, Shackle, came popping into the Library. "The Young Master and Mistress Dinner is served. It's time to choose your escort and partner for the night," the elf said with a squeak.

"That's our cue! Grab a partner, everyone!" Emma called out, as she and Nathaniel linked arms.

When all the pairings were finished the results were: Vaisey and Isabella, Pryo and a girl that Scorpius only knew as, Piper Dragonstail, Emma and Nathaniel, Paavai and Jackson, Jess and Megan, Zane and Susan Crabbe, Dolvov and Kathy Carrow, Zane's older brother, Luke Goyle and Bailey Richmond and, finally, Scorpius and Avery.

Scorpius watched as everyone was escorted down the long staircase and took their seats. Seated first, were the adults and very young children followed by the seventh years, sixth years and so on. Eventually, it was Vaisey and Isabella's turn to walk down the stairs. Scorpius knew he and Avery would be next and continued waiting patiently for their names to be called.

"Now, introducing, Jessica Avery and her escort, Scorpius Malfoy," the Voice called out.

Scorpius felt Avery's hand tighten around his arm. When he looked down at her face he saw her trying to maintain her composure; however, he saw right through it. _"She's nervous!" _he thought to gently tugged on her arm and she followed him easily. The two gracefully descended the stairs and made their way to their assigned seats. After pulling out a chair for Avery, Scorpius then took his seat and breathed a sigh of relief, while catching the approving look from his father.

After Scorpius' father gave a short speech, everyone began to eat. Scorpius was about to take a bite out of his hogs head when he paused to see Mr. Zabini and his father whispering to each other. Mr. Zabini then turned to look at him and was looking very pleased. Scorpius had the sneaking suspicion that whatever Mr. Zabini was smiling about didn't bode well for him.

* * *

Rose was sitting in her mom's office with a new stack of books she had gotten for Christmas. She had received one from each member of her family, which, in short, was a lot. _"I__t__will take me at least a month to read them all," _Rose thought to herself, as she picked up the first book on top of a _very_ tall stack.

She smiled at the book's title, 'Wizards and Muggles; Is There a Difference?' by Anthony Goldstein. Anthony Goldstein was a favorite writer of Rose and her mum because of his honest opinions about the Muggles and Muggle-borns, believing they improve the wizarding world, not weaken it.

As Rose began to read, her mum came into the office with a worried look on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry pumpkin. You have to sit in here while I do all this paperwork," her mum said, guiltily.

"It's okay, mum. I don't mind. Besides, it's much quieter here than being at home with dad and Hugo. Now, I can read my books in peace," Rose reassured her mum with a smile.

Still a little hesitant, Rose's mum asked, "Are you sure?"

Rose giggled and replied, "Yes, mum, I'm sure."

Fully convinced now, Rose's mum began to get to work, allowing Rose to return to reading her was about an hour later that a girl with big glasses came bursting into the office with a panicked look on her face."Elene, what are you doing barging into...," Hermione began to scold her, but was cut off when Elene began speaking frantically.

"Mrs. Weasley, thehouseelfforcedpaylawisbeingoverturnednow!" Elene said all at once, without taking a breath.

"Wait! Slow down, Elene! Breathe! Now, tell me again. What happened?" Hermione asked while trying to hide the worried tone creeping into her voice.

After Elene took a big calming breath, she spoke again."Mrs. Weasley, the House Elf Forced-Pay Law is being overturned…right now!"

"WHAT?!" Hermione yelled furiously, before immediately rushing out of the office with Elene on her heels.

Rose stared, dumbstruck, at where her mum had been standing just a minute ago. She then snapped out of her daze and chased after them. To Rose's relief, she managed to catch up to her mum before she got on the elevator.

As they made the trip across the Ministry, her mum began the rant of her life. "How can this happen?! We had the support! We had the resources! We had the manpower! We put five years into this project! What went wrong?!"

Before a frightened Elene could respond, the elevator opened and they rushed out towards the court room. When they were no more than ten feet away, the council room doors opened and a group of people wearing red and black robes came walking out. Rose caught sight of a woman wearing black robes, who looked a lot like Professor Zabini. The woman came out with a very confused look on her face. Before Rose could call out to her, her mum shouted over to the woman.

"Parvati!" Hermione shouted.

Rose then realized that she must be Drake's mum, Mrs Zabini's twin sister. Hermione made a beeline towards her, but quickly slowed down when she caught sight of the women's face, which showed as much fury as her own.

"What the hell was that?!" Parvati yelled.

"What was what?! What happened?!" Hermione asked frantically.

"What happened?! What happened!? I'll tell you what happened! Your law just got vetoed!" as Parvati continued yelling.

"What?! Why?! How?!" asked Hermione, still in shock.

Rose could hear a waiver in her mum's voice and she didn't know if it was from the yelling, the idea of losing all her hard work or both.

"I don't know. One minute everything was fine and then Pansy Nott spoke up and offered an appeal to dismiss the law so they could focus on _"more important agendas." _It was an obvious ploy and I thought everyone was going to laugh her out of the court room. But, before I knew it, more than half the court voted to dismisses it."

Hermione started to reply, but she suddenly spotted someone who invoked her wrath immediately.

"YOU!" she screamed, making Rose and Elene jump.

Hermione marched quickly over to a tall, lanky man with blond hair, who Rose thought looked almost demon-like. "You slimy, insignificant, nasty, little toad!" Hermione shouted, as she made a move for her wand.

But before she could draw it out, two intimidating men wearing black suits and fedoras came out of the shadows with their wands raised.

"Good afternoon, Granger. How are you doing to day?" the man asked with a smirk on his pointy-looking face.

"My bill was overturned! How do you think I'm doing, Malfoy?! Hermione shouted.

Rose's stomach turned inside out. "_This is__ our Malfoy's father. The same man who bullied my family all through their years at Hogwarts, who was the youngest Deatheater in history,"_ Rose thought, as her whole body shivered.

"Oh, that's too bad, Granger. I was _so _looking forward to paying my own property," Malfoy mocked, before casting his deathly-cold eyes upon Rose. "Ah, so this must be yours. The weasel spawn, my son says she is a bit of a know-it-all. Are you ready to go back to school, little one?" he teased.

Hermione was seething. "Don't you _dare_ speak to my daughter, you snake! I have friends in the Auror department and this will not stand!" she said, as she grabbed Rose's hand and dragged her away from the smirking Malfoy.

They hurried into the elevator, but before the doors could close, a long, black cane with a silver dragon head on top stopped the doors from closing. "By the way, when you tell Potter about this, would you ask him to call his new boss, Blaise Zabini and ask him if he's still coming for dinner to night?" Malfoy said, as his smirk grew,when Hermione began shaking with anger.

Malfoy then removed his cane, allowing the elevator doors to slam Rose and Hermione stood in complete silence, Rose thought about what her father used to say about _their _Malfoy, saying, "He was all talk and no action." However, _this_ Malfoy didn't sound like _that_ Malfoy at all. _"Do they get meaner over time? If that's the case, how bad will Scorpius be in a few years?"_ Rose thought. And it was _that_ thought that truly scared Rose the most.


	6. The first of meany endings

**Authors**** note...** hey everyone, I'm sorry for the wait but I have finally got the next chapter finished (happy dance;) anyway I want to say thank you for all your support and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. On that note I would like to thank the ones who had reviewed my story and I hope to get more from you and the ones who haven't yet I would loveto hear your thoughts on this story ;) 

**Also I would Like to announce that I will be doing something called Readers choice. What Is readers choice you ask ? Well it means That I will be setting up Polls that will have multiple options for you to choose from and I will be putting theses Polls on Every update and witch ever Poll wins will become canon with in this story, for instance the first Poll is (who should be Marcus Flint wife and Megan Mother should it be, Cho Chang, Romilda Vane or Flora Carrow, its your choice, THE WINNING POLL WILL HAVE A PART IN THE NEXT CHAPTER SO VOTE,VOTE,VOTE ;)**

* * *

Rose was glad to be going back to Hogwarts. Ever since the confrontation between her mom and the vile Draco Malfoy, Rose and Albus' parents were trying to figure out how Malfoy got his hand in the Ministry, at any level, without breaking the terms of his release agreement, which clearly stated he couldn't get a job at the Ministry. Rose had to hear about this problem all week, unfortunately, so she was happy to be returning to school just to escape the aggravation.

"So are you ready to get going, Princess?" said Rose's dad with a goofy grin on his face, as he brought her trunk to the center of the living room. Rose looked up at him, gave a confidant nod and replied, "I'm ready, Dad."

Rose nearly jumped out of her skin when, suddenly, her little brother's arms came circling around her from behind. "I don't want you to leave," he said with a whine.

"Oh, Huey, I'm going to miss you too," Rose said, as she turned around and gave her little brother a tight embrace.

Hermione smiled at her kids with misty eyes then glanced down at her watch. "Oh, Ronald, we're going to miss the train," she said worriedly. "Right. We better get going then," said Ronald, as he stood next to Rose, placing one hand on her shoulder and grabbing her trunk with his other a low-sounding "pop," Rose felt like she was being squeezed through one of those muggle crazy straws that she had discovered in her Grandpa Weasley's basement. Suddenly, her feet landed with a wobble on the marble floor of King's Cross, but, thankfully, her dad's hand was already out to help steady after, Hermione and Hugo appeared and they all made their way to platform 9-3/4. As Rose ran through the wall, she couldn't help but smile at the memory of the first time she ever ran through the wall. She thought she would absolutely slam right into it and hurt herself.

When Rose and her family appeared on the other side they walked through the thick crowd of people. In fact, the crowd was _so_ thick Rose didn't see Dominique until Dominique lunged at her and gave her a crushing hug. "Bonjour, Rosie!" Dominique said with a sing-song voice.

"Hey, Dom! How was your New Years?" Rose asked cheerfully, pulling back from their embrace.

"Oh, eet was beautiful! Zee fireworks were exploding all around zee Eiffel Tower. Eet was truly somesing to behold!" as Dominique reminisced with a dreamy sigh, while smoothing out the wrinkles in her Ravenclaw robes.

Rose was about to ask Dominique if she knew where Albus was, but was cut off when a familiar voice called out, "Hermione!"

Rose turned around to see who it was and smiled when she saw Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny as well as Parvati Thomas coming towards them. While Uncle Harry pulled Rose's dad away to chat, her Aunt Ginny and Mrs. Thomas began talking to Hermione. "How are you doing Hermione?" Parvati asked with worry in her voice.

Hermione gave a slight shrug and answered, "I'm fine, but the S.P.E.W foundation is in complete chaos."

"And you're sure that Malfoy has something to do with it?" asked Ginny.

Before her mom could answer, Rose interrupted and asked, "Where is Albus?"

"Oh, he and Drake have already boarded the train," Aunt Ginny answered with a reassuring smile. "Oh and before you go, could you give Drake..." Parvati began, but immediately stopped as she narrowed her eyes to look at something or _someone_ in the crowd.

"Parvati, whatever is the matter?" Hermione asked, but Parvati didn't answer her. She just kept glaring through the train smoke into the mass of people on the platform. Rose followed her glare and was surprised to see Professor Zabini giving a tall, threatening man - who Rose immediately recognized as Blaise Zabini - a lingering kiss, before stepping onto the train. But before she entered the train car, Professor Zabini turned her head and looked at the women coldly.

"I can't believe how much Padma has changed," Ginny said solemnly.

"Me either," said Hermione. "It's like she's not even the same person anymore. Do you remember how she helped Pansy with her Pro House-elf campaign?" she added.

"It's that damn Zabini's fault! He's manipulating her," Parvati said through gritted teeth.

Rose and Dominique, both smiled and looked at each other as if to say, _"Did they forget we're still standing here?"_"Uh, mum, we have to go. The train is about to leave," Rose said, as she tried not to laugh at the horrified looks on the women's faces when they realized they were not yet alone. When Rose heard Dominique giggle, Rose then had to giggle a bit herself.

After Parvati handed Rose a small black bag, she and Dominique said quick goodbyes to their families and made their way onto the train. As usual, the train was filled with laughter, cheering and multiple conversations. There were even a few older students snogging in some of the compartments. "Eet eez just so wonderful to see school love, Rose," Dominique said with a sigh. "Eet eez just so...,"

"Improper," Rose interrupted with an annoyed look on her face, as they walked past yet another couple in a heated lip-lock. "I mean, really? Publically groping each other on the train? How uncivilized," Rose said sternly.

"Well, I sink eet eez romantic. To 'ave your loved ones strong arms wrapped tightly around you," Dominique said, as she wrapped her own arms around herself to imitate a lover's embrace. Rose laughed at her cousin's little daydream. "You do realize that we're here for school and not for meeting boys, don't you? And, besides, we're just eleven. We're too young to be thinking about those kinda things," said Rose emphatically.

"Rose, love eez like good fashion; you can never be too young or too old to want eet," replied Dominique, as she slid open the compartment door to reveal Albus and Amelia sitting across from each other while they watched Drake dig through his bag.

"Hey, Drake, your mom said you left this," Rose said, as she passed him the small bag and then took her seat, while Dominique sat down next to Amelia. "My chocolate frog cards!" Drake exclaimed. "Thank Merlin! Thanks, Rose, I thought I left them for sure," he said as he then began to shuffle the deck and quickly asked, "Anyone up for a friendly game of Exploding Snap?"

* * *

_"Merlin! I hate charms class," _Scorpius thought bitterly, as he struggled to cast a successful Dancing Feet spell on the chair in front of him. He was the only Slytherin who hadn't done it yet and now quite a few of the Hufflepuffs perfected the spell as well, which only served to embarrass him.

Annoyed, Scorpius held his wand firmly in front of him, aimed it at the chair and said, "Tarantallegra." The moment the words left his mouth the spell hit the chair; however, instead of making the chair dance, it was blasted into pieces. And, to make matters worse, everyone in the class was now looking at him. _"Perfect!" _Scorpius thought angrily.

"Mr. Malfoy, that was…um…a very nice try," Professor Honeybee said sweetly. "But, next time, try to put a bit more softness into your words. In fact, all of you practice the way you say your words when casting a spell. Read chapter 33 on 'Dancing Objects' tonight because I will be quizzing you tomorrow. And don't forget to have a nice day!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes at the sickening sweetness of the head of Hufflepuff and Charms Professor and grabbed his bag. He walked over to the door where he met up with Avery, Vaisey and Jackson."So, Malfoy, you _do_ know there's a difference between dancing and exploding, right? Because, if not, I do feel bad for your future dance partners," Vaisey said with an amused laugh.

Scorpius held back a sharp response and, instead, allowed a smirk to appear across his sharp features. "You know, Vaisey, it's not wise to provoke the one who's helping you pass all your classes. That is, unless you'd like to be the first Slytherin in history to repeat the first year." This earned Scorpius snickers from both Avery and Jackson while Vaisey glared at him, but chose not to say anything further on the subject.

"We better get going. D.A.D.A will be starting soon and father hates it when members of his own house are late," Jackson said in a bored tone, as he began walking to class without them.

"So, Scorpius, I wanted to thank you for the locket you gave me for Christmas. It was very lovely," Avery said, as she played with the locket hanging from her neck. "Aww, how cute! You gave her a locket. Hey, Avery, did you put a picture of the two of you in it?" Vaisey laughed.

But his laughter was short lived when Avery successfully shot him with a Stinging hex. "Damn, Avery, learn how to take a joke!" Vaisey hissed angrily.

"Amusing as ever, Avery," Jackson chuckled. "Although, I would've done a Bogey hex…lasts longer," he quipped.

Avery smiled proudly and answered, "Oh, that _does_ sound better or, perhaps, I should give him a bad case of buckteeth."

Vaisey glared at the both of them. "I can't believe my so-called friends actually enjoy torturing me," he growled.

Scorpius laughed a little at the exchange his friends were having, but before he could remind them they had to get moving, a familiar voice called out to him, "Hey, Malfoy!" When Scorpius turned around he saw a black-haired boy walking towards him and instantly recognized him as the same boy who was hanging out with Pryo at the Malfoy Christmas party.

"Nathaniel Crow. So what do I owe the pleasure?" Scorpius asked politely.

Nathaniel smirked slyly before crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm so glad you managed to remember my name, Malfoy. It wasn't too difficult, I hope."

_"No, it wasn't difficult you over-pompous ass," _is what Scorpius _wanted_ to say. Instead, he just smirked and replied, "Not at all. Did you bring me what I needed?"

At this point, Avery, Jackson and Vaisey gathered by his side. Nathaniel's smirk grew a little, as he reached into his robe and pulled out a small, green vial and handed it to Scorpius. "Thanks to our little alliance with the caretaker, Mr. Gold, we got it in here without a hitch," he remarked.

Avery grabbed the small vial from Scorpius and gave it a closer look. "So what kind of potion is this anyway?" she asked. Nathaniel replied, "Now, about that. Pryo wanted you guys to be just as surprised as everyone else when it happens so you won't look guilty."

Both Scorpius and Avery gave him a suspicious look while Vaisey questioned him in frustration, "But how are we supposed to give Potter the potion without knowing what it is?"

Nathaniel, looked at Vaisey with a nasty sneer and remarked, "Well, of course, _you_ would be the one to ask the stupid question."

Vaisey looked as if he was about to go for his wand, but stopped when he felt Jackson place a hand on his arm and look him in the eye, as if to say, _"Not the time." _Vaisey nodded, but still kept his hand within centimeters of his wand.

"Anyway…," Scorpius interrupted suddenly, wanting to return to the topic at hand. "How does this potion work?"

"Easy," Nathaniel replied nonchalantly. "It's a powder that absorbs into the skin. Just a dab should do," he explained, as he began to walk away. But before he could get too far, Scorpius called out to him,

"Hey, Nathaniel! Will the potion's effect be amusing?" he asked with a sly smirk on his face. Nathaniel turned around, but didn't respond in words. Instead, he just let out a deep, cackling laugh and then continued walking away. Scorpius smiled cruelly and thought to himself, _"And that's all I needed to know."_

* * *

"Ugh. I _hate_ D.A.D.A class," Albus groaned, as he, Rose and Amelia walked to class.

"I thought Defense was your best subject? Why would you hate it?" Amelia asked curiously. When Albus didn't answer it dawned on her, "Wait. You're not scared of Professor Nott, are you?" Amelia teased.

Albus glared at her and replied, "He doesn't scare me. I just don't like him, is all."

Amelia nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess he is the least favorite teacher at Hogwarts. In fact, I don't think even the Slytherins like him all that much, despite all the favoritism he shows to his own house."

"That's true, but if you think about it, Professor Longbottom does the same thing for James, Fred and the rest of "The Marauders," Rose reasoned. "Besides, I like his class. He's the only one, other than professor Meriwether, who gives us extra school work."

Albus shook his head in disbelief. "Rose, you _do_ realize that Professor Nott hates you, right?"

"Yeah, he really doesn't like you almost as much as he doesn't like Albus," Amelia added.

"Oh, I know he doesn't like me all that much, which is why I like his class," Rose replied. "He doesn't pull any punches when it comes to his quizzes. And when I do get the answers right, it's that much sweeter because it's like I've beaten him or something," Rose continued, excitedly.

They walked for a little while longer until they saw students entering the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "Well, let's get this over wi-…oomph!" Albus was interrupted when he and Jessica Avery ran into each other in the doorway. Avery stumbled backward a bit and fell to the floor with a thud.

"Watch where you're going, you halfwit!" Avery hissed venomously. While Rose steadied Albus, Amelia came to his defense. "What are you talking about? _You're_ the one who ran into _him_, you little midget!"

"Ganging up on a poor, defenseless girl? How utterly barbaric," Scorpius remarked, as he slithered around the corner of the doorway with a smirk on his face. "Although, I guess I shouldn't be surprised; you _are_ Gryffindors, after all," he continued with a sneer, as he helped Avery up off the floor.

Albus' face became redder with each word Scorpius spoke. "We weren't ganging up on her! Besides, _she_ was the one who ran into _me _and then began screaming at me like a freshly picked mandrake root!"

"I suppose your right. She should've been able to notice that over-inflated head of yours a mile away," Scorpius said with a made Albus so angry that he stepped right up in Scorpius' face, eyes blazing. Rose, who was watching the performance with nervous eyes, grabbed her enraged cousin's arm and pulled him away from the blond Slytherin.

"Albus, let's go sit down. I don't want to be late," Rose said in a pleading voice.

"Yes, Potter, why don't you listen to the know-it-all Weaselette," Scorpius said in a snarky tone. Rose's eyes immediately glared at Malfoy. "Why don't you just sod off, Malfoy or I'll hex you," she said with more courage than she actually felt.

"Avery, do my ears deceive me or was I just threatened by the one and only Weaselette?" Scorpius mocked, making Avery giggle.

Albus was about to respond, but stopped when Professor Nott came towards them with a stern look on his face. "What are the four of you doing gathered around my classroom door?" the professor said with a slow draw.

"My apologies, Professor, we were just about to go inside," Scorpius said with a smirk, as he and Avery entered the classroom.

"Merlin! I _hate_ that git!" Albus growled angrily, as he, Rose and Amelia entered the classroom as well.

Rose sighed tiredly, as she took her usual seat between Albus and Amelia. "Albus, Malfoy is just an annoying leach who feeds off getting a rise out of you. If you'll just ignore him, he'll get bored and end up leaving you alone."

Albus looked at his cousin with wide eyes and replied, "So, what, you want me to just take it?"

"Yeah, Rose, that doesn't sound like a good idea," Amelia added skeptically.

Rose sighed again. "I'm not saying you have to take it. I'm simply saying to be the bigger wizard and turn the other cheek."

"Same thing!" Albus and Amelia replied in unison.

"No! It's not the same…ugh. You know what? Never mind," Rose said in frustration, as she began to set up her desk for class.

"Since the school year will be over in just a matter of weeks, today you'll be taking a mandatory end of term test," Professor Nott said in a loud tone so he could be heard over the disappointed groans…and an excited, "Yes!" from Rose. Professor Nott than walked towards his desk and pointed his wand at a tall stack of papers, making it float into the air and move towards each student's desk, promptly leaving a piece of parchment on top of each desk. When Rose's parchment floated down to her desk, she grabbed her quill and waited anxiously for the Professor's command to start. After several agonizing minutes, Professor Nott finally commanded, "Begin!"

About an hour later, Rose was halfway finished with her test when she noticed Albus beginning to look a little sick. "Albus, are you okay?" Rose whispered to him. Albus slowly put down his quill and rubbed his hands over his face.

"I don't feel so good," he said with a weak mumble. But when he brought his hands down from his face, Rose's mouth dropped open and her eyes suddenly widened. When Albus saw his cousin's shocked expression he frowned and asked, "What?"

Rose was so shocked she couldn't stop the next words that came out of her mouth. "Holy cricket Albus, what happened to your face?!" Rose exclaimed, a little too loudly, causing everyone to immediately look at them in utter shock.

"Rose, what is every one looking at?" Albus asked in a panicked voice. Rose could only stare at him in horror at the half-dozen large warts covering his face. But before she could say anything, a snarky voice beat her to it.

"Way to show school spirit, Potter," Vaisey said between laughs.

"You know what's sad? Those warts are actually an _improvement_," Avery remarked with a giggle. This made Rose turn and glare at the Slytherin half of the room. But to her surprise, the one she thought for sure would be laughing only had an amused smirk on his face.

"Shut up, Avery! It's not funny!" Amelia defended.

"Did she say "warts"?" Albus croaked, as his face began to pale slightly, which certainly didn't help. Now, the warts had become redder and angrier against his newly-pale skin. By this time, half the class had erupted in laughter while the other half was trying to defend Albus by telling them to shut up.

"SILENCE!" Professor Nott roared over his class. "Now, Mr. Scamander, take Mr. Potter to Madam Pomfrey. The rest of you can GET BACK TO WORK!" he bellowed.

As Rose watched Lysander help Albus out of the classroom, she had the unsettling feeling that she was being stared at. When she turned to see who it was she met the cold, yet satisfied, silver eyes of Scorpius Malfoy. She didn't know how or when, but she would bet her next O that Malfoy was to blame for what happened to Albus.

* * *

"I'm going to curse that slimy git when I get my hands on him!" Albus said seething, as he and Rose set plates and cups on a long table.

"I know what Malfoy did was wrong and he certainly will get what's coming to him, but can we at least have a little fun tonight?" Rose asked in an encouraging voice. "After all, the Head Girl was nice enough to let us first years join tonight's party."

"Yeah, provided we were the ones who did all the decorating and setting up refreshments," Amelia scoffed, as she and Lysander hung a big, red and gold banner, that read, _"Farewell, Seventh Years"_ in bold lettering, over the Gryffindor stairwell. It would be the first thing people saw when they entered the common room.

"Considering that we were, technically, not allowed to attend the party, I guess I could do a little prep work," Drake said eagerly, as he and the rest of the first years brought food to the tables. They were almost through setting up when a knock came from the common room door.

"I'll get it!" Rose yelled cheerfully, as she ran to the door and opened it. To her surprise, Dominique, Jess and Lorcan were standing on the other side. "Hey, what are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you guys be setting up for the Ravenclaw party?" Rose asked.

"Oh, we've been finished with all that hours ago," Jess bragged.

"Yes, so we decided zat we will see what eez up wis you," Dominique added gleefully.

Rose smiled broadly, as she opened the door wider to allow the three inside. "Well, come in, come in! You're more than welcome," said Rose happily. When the three Ravenclaws entered the bright red common room, Albus suddenly threw a quaffle straight at Jess who, much to Rose's surprise, caught it with ease.

"Wow! Nice catch, Jess," Lysander complemented. "Yeah, you'd make a fair keeper," added Drake.

"Thanks, guys, but I'm still shooting for seeker next year," Jess said, grinning excitedly and flipped the quaffle back at Albus.

Albus smiled at him, as he caught the ball, and replied, "Well, at least I know when I make seeker next year I'll be going up against an equal," he said confidently.

"Ugh! Pour l'amour de Merlin! I am so sick and tired of 'earing no sing else but zis Quidditch! Eet eez making me crazy!" Dominique ranted.

"Did you know that every time you say a word with the letter "U" in it, Smoggles change color?" Lorcan blurted out suddenly. "You said five words that had the letter "U" in it so it changed five times!" he said excitedly and then began writing furiously in the journal he had received over the holidays as a gift.

There was a short moment of silence before Lysander sighed in annoyance and asked, "Why can't you act a little more normal?"

Lorcan gave his twin a puzzled look before smiling and replied, "Why can't you be more weird?" "He got you there, mate," Jess said with a loud laugh.

"So, Albus…yesterday I 'eard about zee whole wart sing. Just zee sought of all zose warts on my beautiful face gives me… 'ow you say…zee chills?" Dominique said, shuddering slightly at the mere thought.

Albus' face became red instantly when he was reminded of the wart incident. "That slimy, evil, conniving, two-faced git!" he shouted angrily.

Rose sighed in exasperation and then glared at Dominique. "Thanks for that, Dom. Now, he will go on a rant for the next hour," she said in irritation.

After Rose finally got Albus to forget about the wart incident, they all went back to work setting up for the party and finished within an hours' time. This was great timing because people started showing up around thirty minutes later and it didn't take long for the room to become packed. The music played loudly, everyone was dancing and the common room was wild and carefree.

Rose, Albus and Lysander made their way toward the sofa in front of the fire, where the other first and second years were talking and hanging out. At this point, Butterbeer and Fire Whiskey seemed to flow freely and no one knew exactly where it had come from, but it hardly mattered. The three made their way towards the sofa, grinning at each other and thoroughly enjoying the loud music playing in the background. Teddy was making his way over to them and laughed at seeing the trio with their arms tightly wrapped around each other. They grinned at Teddy as he approached them.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite Gryffindor First Years," Teddy chuckled as he smiled and took his seat in one of the red chairs. After Teddy sat down, he pulled Victoire onto his lap.

She let herself sink slowly against his chest, as she looked over at the three and said sweetly, "I 'ope you are all 'aving a good time tonight. Eet would be such a shame eef you didn't since you were zee ones to set eet all up, no?"

"I'm having an okay time. I would be having a much _better_ time if there weren't so many rule breakers," Rose commented, somewhat annoyed.

"Oh, come on, Rosie. You're not even a Perfect yet and you already sound like a Head Girl," teased Albus, as he gave his cousin a quick squeeze of her shoulder. But Rose just rolled her eyes at her cousin's teasing.

"Aren't you having some of the refreshments? I went all the way to Hogsmeade to get them," Teddy said with sly wink.

"B-…but you're Head Boy!" Rose exclaimed, as their mouths all gaped open. He just laughed, as he got up to get them some drinks. Victoire's gaze never left him, as he made his way to the refreshment table.

"Do you think you'd have a chance to make Head Girl next year?" Lysander asked Victoire, curiously.

"Well, I don't know. I would like to become zee 'ead Girl, but zere 'asn't been a 'ufflepuff zat 'ad zis privilege een quite some time…'ead Girl _or_ Boy, for zat matter," she said, shyly. Her eyes then brightened when she saw Teddy making his way back towards them while holding cups of what looked to be Fire Whiskey.

"I want zis to go on zee record zat I do _not_ condone zis, but Teddy eez 'ead Boy so I bow to 'eez judgment," Victoire said, as she watched Teddy hand cups to Albus and Lysander. Teddy winked at Rose, as he handed a cup to her as well.

Frowning, Rose took a sip and was relieved to find that it was only Butterbeer. "Yuck! How can you...this is disgusting, isn't it?" Albus said, making a face, as he tried to take another sip.

Lysander took a sip only to immediately spit it back out. "That's repulsive!" he said, scowling as he put his cup on a nearby table.

Albus and Lysander both glanced at Rose, who was happily sipping from her cup and their jaws dropped open. "You...Rose, how can you drink this!?" Albus asked, watching as she took another rather large gulp.

"Mmmm!" It's delicious! Probably, the best thing I've ever tasted!" she declared gleefully.

Albus and Lysander, who had retrieved his cup, glanced at the drinks in their hands and then looked at each other. "Do you feel the need to save your masculinity as well?" Albus asked Lysander, who nodded quickly. Taking several deep breaths, they both took a large gulp of the Fire Whiskey. They choked a bit and the look on their red faces was just too much for Rose, who practically fell out of her seat laughing.

Confused, Albus snatched Rose's cup from her. He sniffed tentatively then glared at her while passing the cup to Lysander. "You lied to us! This is just Butterbeer!"

"I never said it wasn't, now did I?" Rose quipped, wiping away her tears from laughing so hard. She then watched as Albus took a swig of Butterbeer and gargled with it so he could get the taste of Fire Whiskey out of his mouth. Meanwhile, the rest of the first years just laughed even louder.

Teddy and Victoire rolled their eyes at the first years' antics. "Eet feels like just yesterday zat I was a first year and stepped off zee train for zee first time. You became my protective knight zat shielded me from all zee mean bullies. And, 'ere we are now, six years later and you will be leaving zis year, starting your Auror, while I 'ave to come back 'ere wis out you," Victoire whispered sadly, as she placed her head against Teddy's chest.

"Yeah, I know," he whispered into her ear. He then kissed the top of her head, wrapped his arms around her waist and they both watched the first year trio laugh and goof off.

* * *

It was the last day of school, which meant the entire courtyard was filled with students, saying their goodbyes and deciding which person they want to sit with on the way back to King's Cross. The chaos was only adding to Scorpius' headache, which he'd been suffering with ever since the Cup Ceremony, when Slytherin lost both the House and Quidditch cups.

"Man, I'm glad I can return to my over-privileged life again," Vaisey said with a relieved smile. "Yeah, my nice, clean suite, my personal Quidditch pitch and my brand new broom. Yes, summer will be good to me."

Scorpius would've rolled his eyes at his friend's list of so-called "wealth," if he didn't think his eyes would fall out of his head from all the pressure they were under. "Merlin! Sometimes I forget just how truly spoiled you are," Scorpius said with an amused smirk.

"And this coming from the one who will inherit half the wizard world?" Vaisey shot back with an equally amused smirk.

"Ugh, you're _both_ equally spoiled. Happy? Now that this boring conversation is finally over, help me get our bags so we can get to the train and meet up with everyone else," Avery said in frustration, as she quickly tossed her bag to Scorpius who caught it easily.

With their bags in hand, they were about to head towards the wagons when a sudden flash of blue light came hurtling past them, just missing Scorpius and causing Vaisey to duck. "What in Merlin's name was that!?" Vaisey shouted, as he pulled himself up off the ground.

Scorpius was about to ask Vaisey the same question until he caught sight of the caster, who was standing no more than ten feet away. "Potter! What the hell was that for!?" Scorpius hissed, as he quickly drew out his wand and pointed it right at his target. But before he could cast a spell, Albus quickly shouted, "Flipendo!" hurtling another blue light towards Scorpius, which hit him squarely in the chest, making him fly back a few feet and hit the ground.

"Scorpius!" Avery cried out, as she ran to his side and tried to help him get back to his feet. "Scorpius, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. Scorpius wasn't okay. In fact, his sides were hurting pretty badly, but he grit his teeth and slowly got back to his feet.

"You'll regret that, Potter," Vaisey seethed, as he stood behind Albus and instantly threw a Bat-Bogey hex towards him. Unfortunately, it was successfully blocked by one of Albus' fellow Gryffindors, who then returned fire with their own spell marked for Vaisey. Scorpius smirked when he saw that Potter was now being distracted by Avery, who was busy casting spells at him like there was no tomorrow; however, Potter successfully avoided being hit by any of them.

Quickly, Scorpius cast the first spell that came to mind. "_Serpensortia!"_ he hissed menacingly, instantly making a long, silver cobra fly out from his wand. Scorpius kept his wand and eyes trained on the serpent so he could keep control of it, but sensed that everyone around him stood still and had their eyes focused on the serpent too.

Scorpius laughed when he saw Potter backing up slowly, eyes frozen on the serpent. Directing the serpent to slither towards him, Scorpius mocked, "What's the matter, Potter, afraid of snakes?" He was having so much fun scaring Potter that he didn't notice the Weaselette until he felt her wand pointed into the side of his neck.

"M-…make the snake g-…go away, Malfoy!" Rose yelled, but her voice wavered, noticeably.

"This is awful brave of you, Weaselette," Scorpius laughed, but he made no move to destroy the serpent.

"I mean it, Malfoy. Destroy it now or I will hex you a new one!" Rose threatened, as she applied more pressure to her wand, making the pointed end dig even deeper into the side of his neck.

"Scorpius, are you okay? I'm going to hex you, you filth!" Avery shouted, as she pointed her wand straight at Rose, as did Vaisey. "It's okay, Avery. She's just trying to help her cousin. Ain't that right, Weaselette?" Scorpius said smoothly.

"Stop calling me that! My name is Rose, not Weaselette!" Rose corrected bitingly.

"You know, you're a smart girl. Lucky for you, I have a little brain teaser for you to solve. Would you like to hear it?"

Rose raised her brow and replied, "What are you talking about?" "I'll take that as a "yes" then,"

Scorpius mocked. "Okay, here it is. Do you think you can cast a spell on me before my serpent attacks Potter?" he asked, smiling slightly.

"Last chance, Malfoy," Rose warned, her tone flat. Scorpius smirked and then flicked his wand, causing the serpent to quickly go up in flames.

Rose immediately ran to her cousin's side while Avery ran over to Scorpius. Albus and Scorpius were oblivious to the girls, as they stood there glaring at each other. As Albus and Rose turned and began walking toward the wagons, Scorpius called out, "Hey, Potter, this isn't over, you know. Next year, you're going down."

**REVIEW, ****REVIEW, ****REVIEW, ****REVIEW,** **;)**


	7. Summer days

**Authors note... Wow let me start off saying sorry for the long wait I have been very sick, for the past week or so So I couldn't get the update up as soon as I wanted it and I sorry for those who wanted to use the poll but couldn't. I DIDN'T realized that I didn't activate the Poll until a week later, but I found out how now and It wont happen again however I did managed to get some votes and the Winner is (flora carrow ) now ****flora **Flint if you want to check out the results go ahead but they will be replaced with a new poll two days after this update. which brings me to the new poll idea. which is the better house, is it (Griffindor) (Hufflepuff) (Ravenclaw) or (Slytherin) VOTE and the wining house will have a main focused in my next Chapter.

**Also I think I should let you know that this story will go through all seven years and more so I hope you like looooonnnng stores :) **

**and one more thing I made 41 **** review**s and I would like to give a shout out to all my reviewers and say Thank you for there support . (TJA1989 , JuliaE.k5, Hot elf , Lena Phoria , RH96, XxGalesAngelxX ,Lissa, Jenny-A1, Grey Eminence, MaCherie21, ali, drops of dreams, Recyclable, RedInHerLedger, Swim-to-Heaven, John Johnson, ShyUnicorn, angel14108, rebakahgranger , aconite91, thank you all ;) and I wold like to give a **shout out to my fantastic beta, thank you Undertaker 58 ;) and I hope TO earn more ********review**s from you guys and from ones who have not yet ******review**ed or read this story and now enjoy this chapter ;)  


* * *

The train ride back home was a bit boring for Scorpius, to say the least. The majority of the trip was spent with Avery fawning all over him, making sure he was all right. Meanwhile, Vaisey was explaining, in every detail, how he was going to get back at Potter and the rest of the _"Gryffindor Brigade"_ when they all returned to Hogwarts after summer break.

When the train came to a stop at King's Cross Scorpius said quick good-byes to both Avery and Vaisey, before then making his way down the platform. He knew whichever house elves were sent would be there waiting to gather his luggage and himself and then apparate back to Malfoy Manor.

As Scorpius made his way down the platform, he couldn't help but wince a little, as he rubbed the side of his neck where that annoying little Weaselette had dug her wand into his skin. _"Damn Gryffindors,"_ Scorpius mumbled to himself, as he made his way through the thick crowd of fellow students, who were giving their families heartfelt greetings.

Scorpius was openly annoyed when he caught sight of a first-year Ravenclaw crying, as she hugged a person, who Scorpius could only assume was her mother. He couldn't understand why people insist on showing such an embarrassing display of emotion. He would've never shown such a public display to his parents and neither would they to him, for that matter. After all, what good is it to show others that you still cry into your mother's skirt at eleven years old? And even more so when those _others_ are the very ones you go to school with.

When Scorpius finally reached the luggage car at the end of the train he was instantly approached by Shackle, one of his family's most loyal house elves. Shackle was the oldest house elf that his family owned. He had long ears that were slicked back and his greyish skin was covered with liver spots.

"Good afternoon, young Master Malfoy," Shackle greeted Scorpius with a rough voice. "Shackle has already collected your things and is ready to return them and yourself back to the Manor at your command, Master," he continued; as he took a long bow that was so deep his long, crooked nose nearly touched the ground.

Scorpius nodded curtly to the elf, as he pulled out a small box. He withdrew a tiny piece of candy and held it in front of him for a second before tossing the piece towards the old elf. "Very good, Shackle. Now, take all my things back to Malfoy Manor and be quick about it. I'd like to be at home at a reasonable hour tonight," Scorpius directed.

After the old elf ate his reward treat, he grabbed one of the suitcases and quickly disappeared with a "_pop."_ A few minutes later, the old elf returned and finished moving all of Scorpius' things back to the Manor. On his last trip, he then held out a wrinkled hand and tightly grabbed Scorpius by the wrist before apparating them both to the Manor with a low-sounding "pop."

The next thing Scorpius knew he was standing in the center of the Manor's drawing room. He was so busy trying to adjust his eyes to the dimly lit room that he almost didn't notice his grandfather, Lucius Malfoy, sitting in front of the fireplace at the other side of the room, lazily drinking from his wine glass.

After a long moment of silence between the two, Scorpius decided to break the silence by speaking first. "Good evening, Grandfather," Scorpius said, as he took a few steps towards the old wizard. "I didn't know that you would be here today," he continued.

"It appears that your grandmother wanted to spend the summer with her grandchildren instead of spending it in Italy," Lucius sighed, as he gave his grandson the once-over. "I hope your time at Hogwarts was beneficial," he commented dryly.

Scorpius responded to his grandfather with a devil-may-care smirk and replied, "I'm a Malfoy, a Slytherin and I got O's in nearly every class. I think I'd call that a beneficial year, wouldn't you?"Lucius could not hold back an amused smirk at hearing of his grandson's exploits. He looked as if he was going to reply, but was interrupted when Astoria and Narcissa entered the room fully engaged in an argument with each other.

"I said, no, Narcissa! If I wanted to put Lyra in drama class, I would've put her in it!" Astoria said heatedly.

"And why not? I took drama as a child and it made me more in tune with my emotions,"Narcissa replied coolly.

"I bet that wasn't..." Astoria began, but immediately stopped when she caught sight of her son standing on the other side of the room. She took a deep, calming breath to compose herself, as she pushed her raven-black hair out of her face and made her way over to Scorpius and gave him a little hug."My darling boy, I have missed you so," Astoria said fondly, as she gave him a light peck on the cheek.

"I have missed you too, Mother," Scorpius said softly.

"And where's my hello, boy?" Narcissa said impatiently, as she waited in the doorway. Scorpius managed to suppress an eye roll, as he made his way over to the Malfoy matriarch and gave her a gentle hug. "It's always nice to see you too, Grandmother," he said quietly.

"Ah, such a well-mannered boy," Narcissa said, as she gave him a little peck on the cheek. "Isn't that right, Lucius?" she said, as she looked at her husband and smiled proudly. But Lucius didn't even look up from his glass, as he gruffly replied, _"Indeed,"_ and then took a long sip of wine.

"Scorpius, your father wanted a word with you when you got home, but he's in the middle of an important meeting right now. So how about you just go upstairs and get settled in," Astoria instructed. Scorpius gave a small nod and made his way out of the room and up the elaborate staircase, straight towards the west wing.

When he opened the door to his room he was glad that everything appeared to be just how he left it. His room was fairly large because it had originally been his parent's room. But when his grandparents decided to retire to the Malfoy villa in Rome, his parents took up residence in the grandmaster bedroom. This left Scorpius their room, which was the size of a large suite. It was decorated in Slytherin emerald and silver, of course, with silver walls and emerald curtains. At the charmed stained-glass window, there was an image of two moving serpents that slithered around a sword.

The first part of the room was a den and study area that included an expensive leather couch and a black, leather, upholstered chair that was arranged next to it. He acquired the furniture after his mother had redecorated the family living room for the fourth time this year, which meant he also received the Panorama cocktail table that sat between the two chairs. Underneath it all, was a serpent and sword-patterned rug that was an old Celtic design and had once belonged to one of his Greengrass ancestors.

Against the left-hand side of the room was Scorpius' desk. It was a magnificent roll top…another discarded item from his mother's constant remodeling…that was crowded with pieces of parchment, quills, ink and books. His notes and cauldron were stacked neatly in a corner, along with a shelf of potion ingredients, ready at a moment's notice, if he ever needed to whip up a salve or an elixir. The mini lab was a gift from his father, who told him that his favorite professor growing up had given him a potions set as well. His father told him to always practice his craft so he, too, could be great one day.

To the right of Scorpius' desk was a large bookshelf filled with more books. These were mostly old text books and biographies of his ancestors, but there were also quite a few dark grimoire. Next to the bookshelf was the fireplace with a burning green flame and to the left of that was his broom and Quidditch gear. At the far end of the room sat his school trunks, which were sitting in front of his king-size, four-poster bed that was decorated with black covers and green pillows.

Scorpius took his time getting changed out of his Slytherin robes and into his black and silver dress robes. After he was fully dressed, he began to unload his trunks and put the contents in their proper places. When he was just about finished unpacking there was a knock at his door. But before Scorpius could say, "Come in," or "Go away," the door swung open and Lyra came barging in, rubbing her temples.

"Hey, Scorpi, you wouldn't happen to have any more of those headache potions would you?" she asked, as she plopped down on the upholstered chair, still rubbing her temples.

Scorpius crossed his arms over his chest, as he leaned against his dresser with amused smirk on his face and replied, "Coming in here, asking for something and without so much as a hello? Sister, I'm truly hurt."

Despite her painful headache, Lyra managed to stand up from her chair and quickly plastered a joyful smile on her face and replied, "Scorpi! You're finally home! Now, my day has become absolutely perfect!" she finished with false enthusiasm and then her face quickly returned to its uncomfortable expression. "Happy?" Lyra grumbled.

"Very," Scorpius answered flatly, as he handed her a small purple vial, which Lyra immediately opened and drank in one gulp. "Still having trouble sleeping?" Scorpius asked, as he sat down behind his desk.

"A little, but not as bad as it was when you were here during Christmas," Lyra said, as she walked towards the full-view mirror and began fixing her silvery-blonde hair. "Oh, and, by the way, Father is finished with his meeting and he sent me to come get you right away," she said nonchalantly.

Scorpius' eyes immediately grew wide, as he leapt from his chair and shouted, "WHAT?! Why didn't you say that from the start?!" as he quickly made a bee line towards the bedroom door.

"I had a headache. And if I had started with, "Father wanted you…," right away, you would've left the second I told you and I would still be suffering a headache. Besides, I thought it would be fun to watch you have a mini freak out," Lyra said with a mean giggle. "And I was right! It was _most_ satisfying," she quipped.

Scorpius didn't waste time shooting a glare at his little sister. Instead, he just ran from the room and quickly made his way down the dark corridors, ignoring all the talking paintings of his dead ancestors, as he made his way towards his father's study.

When Scorpius finally reached his father's study he stood outside the door and took a deep breath. He knocked slightly and waited patiently to be asked to come in. Sure enough, he heard his father call out, _"Come in." _ Scorpius slowly opened the door and stepped inside without a word.

The study was poorly lit and what light it did have was illuminating from small candles that were floating above. Scorpius' father was standing behind a large black desk and was looking out the large window that overlooked the Malfoy gardens. The desk was covered with paperwork, books and a single bottle of goblin scotch with a half-filled glass beside it. To the right side of the room was a Floo-network fireplace, while two chairs were centered in the room, facing the massive desk.

"Are you going to sit down or are you going to stand there all day?" Draco asked with a sneer, as he walked away from the window, settled into his chair and gestured towards the two chairs positioned in front of him. All Scorpius could do was swallow the heavy lump in his throat, as he slowly, but surely, walked over to one of the chairs and settled into the seat. Scorpius sat in complete silence, as he watched his father reach for the glass bottle of scotch and pour himself another glass. After Draco took a small sip he finally began to speak.

"So, Scorpius, how was your school year?"

"Productive, Father," Scorpius replied shortly, as he looked straight into the older Malfoy's eyes.

"Good, good. And your grades? How were they?" Draco asked with a cold look that nearly made Scorpius squirm uncomfortably in his seat.

"I, I got all O's in every class. That is…except in charms, which I got an A." Scorpius said the last few words in nearly a whisper with the hopes his father wouldn't hear him. But, of course, his father could hear _everything_.

"An "A" Scorpius?! That is unacceptable! Next year, you will raise that sorry excuse for a grade to at least an E! Do you understand me?!" Draco said with a hiss. Scorpius nodded and answered, "Yes, sir." Draco took another sip from his glass and thoughtfully looked at his son. "Scorpius, next weekend you will be accompanying me to a meeting at the Ministry," he said in a tone that left little room for debate. Scorpius' eyes grew wide with surprise. His father _never_ took him to one of his meetings, especially one at the Ministry. "Really?!" Scorpius exclaimed excitedly.

Draco's expression instantly showed annoyance. "Do I have to repeat myself, boy?" he replied bitingly.

Realizing his error, Scorpius quickly calmed his father's annoyance. "No, Father, you don't have to repeat yourself. I was just a little surprised is all," he said quietly.

"Well, don't be. You are going to Hogwarts now and it's time for you to start getting an understanding of how things run in this world," Draco said sternly. "Now go and get washed up. Supper will be ready soon," he commanded. Scorpius didn't have to be told twice. He quickly got up from his seat and made his way out of the study without another word. As he left, he couldn't help but think how this summer was going to be a lot different than those he had in the past.

* * *

_"Now, where is that book?"_ Rose asked herself; as she crawled under her bed and pulled out a large box full of old, dusty books. She began to go through them, one by one, but was having no luck finding the one she was searching for. Rose was starting to become slightly annoyed and almost regretted having so many books…well, _almost_. Rose sighed in irritation as she shoved the large box back under her bed, quickly hopped to her feet and began looking around her room again.

Rose's room wasn't a small room, by any means, but it was cramped with four wooden book shelves that were filled to capacity with a variety of books. Her bed was pressed against the far wall and it, too, had books covering the headboard. In fact, the only thing in Rose's room that _didn't_ have books on it was her dresser and her big comfy sitting chair.

_"Maybe I should look through the bookshelves again,"_ Rose thought to herself; however, she was immediately interrupted when she heard her mom's voice calling her from downstairs."Rose! Hugo! Albus and Lily are here!" Hermione shouted. Rose smiled brightly and temporarily forgot all about her missing book. She quickly exited her room and ran down the stairs and just happened to meet up with her little brother, Hugo, along the way.

The two Weasley children made it downstairs and into the kitchen where they saw the two Potter children sitting at the table. Lily suddenly hopped off her chair and ran to give her older cousin, Rose, a hug. "I'm so, glad you're back Rosy!" Lily exclaimed with absolute delight. "I'm glad to be back," Rose said, as she returned the hug. Even though Lily was two years younger than her, Rose had always adored her cousin and Lily had always adored her; mainly, because neither she nor Lily had sisters of their own to hang out with so they treated each other as such.

After Lily pulled away from Rose, she moved towards Hugo and calmly took his hand saying, "Come on, Huey. Let's go play in the tree house!" And, with that, Lily ran out of the kitchen, dragging Hugo along behind her.

"So, Rose, what do you want to do?" Albus asked as he took a bite out of a green apple.

Rose appeared thoughtful for a moment before suddenly snapping her fingers. "I know! Let's go down to the little shops in the village square!"

Albus' face instantly lit up. "That's brilliant, Rose! I've got to go ask Mum, but I'm sure that she'll say yes. I'll be right back," Albus said.

"Okay. I'll have to ask my Mum too. And, if she says yes, I'll meet you at my mailbox." Rose replied.

Rose and Albus both nodded in agreement of their plan and took off in opposite directions. Albus quickly made his way out the back door while Rose made her way towards her mum's office. "Mum?" Rose called from behind her mum's office door.

"Come in, Rose," Hermione answered. Rose opened the door and walked into her mum's cluttered office.

"Mum, would it be okay if Albus and I go down to the village square?" Rose asked politely

"Sure, sweetie, just promise you two will stick together and come straight home when you're finished. And don't forget, Rose, to be back around 3:00 because we're going to the Burrow to have dinner with your grandparents," Hermione reminded.

After getting the_ "okay_" from her mum, Rose ran back upstairs to grab her shoes and change into blue-jean shorts and a green tank top. She then went into the bathroom and did her best to tame her wild, reddish-brown hair, but it was of little use. _"Well, it could be worse, I suppose. I could have freckles all over my face like Molly and Lucy,"_ Rose mused.

After Rose managed to get her hair half-way tamed, she ran out of the house, just beating Albus to the mailbox by a few seconds. "Ready?" she asked eagerly.

"Ready!" Albus answered with as much enthusiasm as Rose.

"Good, so let's get going," Rose laughed and then suddenly called out, "I'll race you!" she said while already running down the street.

"Hey, no fair!" Albus yelled, as he began running after her.

The two raced all the way to the village square of Godric's Hollow, where Albus beat her by a just a few feet. "I...told…you... I…was…going…to win," Albus panted heavily, as he bent over and rested his hands on his knees.

"S-…stop…gloating…it's…very…rude…Albus," Rose warned, as she tried to catch her own breath. "So what do you want to do first?" Rose offered, after her breathing had returned to normal. Albus looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling broadly and answered,

"How about we go and get some gelato at Luigi's gelato parlor? I've got some muggle money left over from when I mowed grass last summer."

"Oh, that sounds absolutely lovely!" Rose beamed. So Rose and Albus made their way towards the small gelato parlor, which was not too far away.

When the two entered the small shop they were greeted immediately by the shop owner, Luigi Bayard. "Ah, well, eez een eet my two favorite customers, Rose Weasley and Albus Potter," he greeted with a smile.

"Hey, Luigi, got any new flavors of gelato?" Albus asked excitedly, as he took a seat on one of the stools in front of the counter.

"Albus Severus Potter, where are your manners?!" Rose scolded, making Albus' frown a bit. She immediately beamed at Luigi and asked sweetly, "How was _your_ year, Luigi?"

"Ah, Rosy, always so polite. And, to answer your question, I'm doing fine," said Luigi with a bright smile on his face. He turned back towards Albus with a serious look, leaned over the counter and then began to whisper so no muggles could overhear him. "Een fact, I jus' whipped up a brand new flavor of gelato zat I'm going to take to Diagon Alley during zee annual summer festival. Would you two like to be my taste testers?"

Rose and Albus both nodded their heads furiously so Luigi ducked into the back of his shop and returned quickly with a cone in each hand. He held them out to the eager tasters, which they took immediately. Rose slowly inspected her mystery gelato closely. The gelato was cream-colored with airy, white foam on top. With her curiosity hitting its peak, Rose licked the cone tentatively and was instantly in love with the flavor. "Butterbear?!" both she and Albus asked in surprise, simultaneously.

"Zat eez right. Butterbeer gelato. I got zee idea when I was introduced to zee wizarding world at 11 years old when it was _my_ time to go to 'ogwarts," Luigi said, laughingly. He looked pleased, as he leaned on the counter and watched Rose and Albus devouring his new flavor of gelato with gusto.

Albus appeared far more preoccupied with his gelato and didn't notice that Rose was looking at Luigi in surprise. "I knew you were a wizard, but I didn't know that you went to Hogwarts as well," Rose commented, as she took another lick.

Luigi laughed and disappeared into the back room again. He returned quickly with a picture frame in hand. "I was in 'ufflepuff," he said proudly. "I believe I was two years younger zan your parents." Rose nodded her head, as she studied the small photograph. The picture was of three Hufflepuff boys, maybe third year. She didn't recognize two of them, but she immediately spotted Luigi. Although he didn't have any wrinkles and his hair was jet black, not gray, as it was now, she knew it was the same old Luigi.

After Rose and Albus finished their treat, they said their good-byes and then continued on their way, visiting nearly every shop in the village square, before finally returning home several hours later.

When they returned to the Potter home, Rose wasn't surprised in the least to see Hugo and her parents already in the living room, along with James, Lily and her Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny.

When Hermione looked up from her purse and caught sight of her daughter and nephew standing in the doorway, she smiled brightly at the two of them and said, "There you two are! I was about to go out and get you myself," Hermione complained, half-heartedly, as she rushed over and quickly pushed them towards the fireplace.

"Relax, Hermione. We still have plenty of time to get there," Harry said, laughingly. He handed James some floo powder and led him into the fireplace. After James was fully inside, he stood up straight, threw the powder at his feet and shouted, "The Burrow!" The next thing Rose saw was a massive flame of green fire, which consumed James entirely. When the fire died down James was gone.

Rose watched nervously as each member of her family disappeared behind the powerful green flames. After watching Albus disappear, Rose felt her dad's hand softly rest on her shoulder. "All right, Princess, it's your turn," Ron said, as he handed his daughter a small amount of floo powder. Rose nodded bravely to him, as she held the powder firmly in her hand and slowly made her way towards the fireplace.

Rose didn't like flooing. She didn't like the idea of possibly saying the name of the wrong place and ending up on the other side of the world. In fact, she would rather side-along apparition with her parents than floo.

Rose held her breath and, with one last nervous glance at her dad, threw the floo powder at her feet with a loud, carefully pronounced shout, "The Burrow!" Rose saw a bright flash of green light and had the sudden feeling of being thrown out of her grandparent's fireplace. After landing firmly on a wooden floor, she slowly came out of the fireplace and stood up, coughing and brushing off her soot-covered clothing.

Suddenly, Rose was scooped up into a mighty embrace. "Oh, Rosy, dear! It's so nice to see you again!" Grandma Weasley rejoiced, as she squeezed her granddaughter in an even tighter embrace.

"It's nice to see you too, Grandma Weasley," Rose giggled happily.

They pulled away from each other and moved out of the way so Rose's dad and Uncle Harry could exit the fireplace. Grandma Weasley nearly grabbed both men at once and gave them a huge hug. Rose decided to seize the opportunity and left to go find Albus.

When she made it to Aunt Ginny's old room, she was suddenly being hugged again. "Bonjour, Rosy!" Dominique exclaimed, in her usual sing-song voice.

"Dom! What are you doing here?! I thought you were going to staying in France this summer?" Rose said with surprise still evident in her voice.

"Oh, I changed my parent's mind. Eet was easy," Dominique said dismissively, before smiling mischievously. "Especially since all I 'ad to do was convince Victoire zat she could spend time wis Teddy before 'e goes to zee Auror training next monz. After zat, zey might not zee each ozer zat much after she returns to 'ogwarts"

Rose was shocked at this. "Dom! You shouldn't manipulate your sister like that! It's incredibly…well, it's not...well, it's just a rude thing to do. Okay?" Rose stammered through her annoyance.

Before Dominique could say anything else, Albus came into the room and shut the door behind him. Rose and Dominique noticed Albus had sat down, holding a large piece of Grandma Weasley's famous three-berry pie, complete with a ton of whipped cream on top.

"You know Albus, eet would 'ave been gentlemanly of you to bring up zee pie for zee ladies of zee room as well, no?" Dominique said, slightly annoyed.

Albus looked at Dominique in confusion before pointing straight at the door saying, "James and Fred are passing the pie out downstairs. You could go get some if you want."

Both girls sighed together in frustration. "Not the point, Albus! The point was…oh, nevermind! We'll go get some ourselves," Rose replied angrily. As she stood up and walked towards the door, she heard a loud _"POW!"_ Surprised, Rose whirled around just in time to see Albus' face covered with pie. "Albus, what happened?" Rose shouted, far too shocked to do anything else, which was more than could be said for Dominique, who was on her back, laughing hysterically, to the point of tears.

Within a few seconds, Albus' face changed from surprise to compete fury. "James!" Albus yelled, as he wiped the pie off his face. "I'm going to _kill_ that insufferable toe rag!" he threatened.

"You can do zat eef you like, but I sink I am going to give 'im a medal for zis one," Dominique declared, as she continued laughing.

Albus' face was so red that Rose thought he was going to surely blow a fuse. Meanwhile, Albus continued to rant. "I can't believe he would _do_ this! This has to be the stupidest thing he's ever done!" Just as Albus was about to leave the room, they heard a sudden series of "_POW_s"throughout the Burrow, followed by high-pitched screams and shouting.

When Albus turned around and looked at Rose and Dominique, he was as pale as a ghost. "You don't think…?" Albus began, but stopped. Dominique shook her head in disbelief.

"No, 'e eez not zat reckless," then immediately looked at Rose with worried eyes.

"Yes, only a complete and utter idiot would do something that…well, that idiotic," Rose said with an unconvincing laugh.

As if all three had the same thought, they quickly ran from the room and down the stairs. But when they got to the bottom step, Rose had to summon every ounce of self-restraint she had not to laugh out loud. Nearly every member of her family was now sporting chunks of pie and it was obvious they were less than fond of the sudden change in dress code.

"JAMES SIRUS POTTER!" Rose heard her Aunt Ginny yell, as she stormed into the living room with pie all over her dress. "What made you think doing this would be funny?!" she continued shouting.

"Hey, don't look at me!" James replied quickly, as he backed up a few steps from the furious, red-haired witch that was his mother.

"Who should I be looking at then, James? Because you're the only one that has a box full of exploding chips at home and guess what I found in each of the pies?" Ginny fumed, as she held up the remnants of an exploded chip. James eyes instantly grew wide as he replied, "Mum, I know they look like mine, but..." Ginny wouldn't let him finish.

"I don't want to hear it, James. Go up to your Uncle Ron's old room and wait for me or your father to come and get you," she said angrily and pointed up the stairs.

As James begrudgingly began slowly walking up the stairs, Aunt Angelina looked at her son sternly and asked, "Did you have a hand in this as well, Fred?" Fred's face indicated he was nervous, but he answered instead, "No, I haven't done anything." His answer did little good because Aunt Angelina decided to send him to Uncle Ron's old room, anyway.

"That's weird," Albus said suddenly, making both Rose and Dominique turn to look at him in confusion.

"What's weird, Albus?" Rose asked, quietly. "James. In all the years I've been his brother, I've learned three things for sure," Albus said, thoughtfully. "And what are zeez sings you 'ave figured out?" Dominique asked with an amused smile on her face. "One, he is an absolute git. Two, he loves Quidditch. And, three, he'll always take credit for a prank, even if it gets him into trouble," Albus listed.

Rose looked at her cousin with concern. "Albus, are you saying what I think you are saying?"

Albus had a nauseated look on his face, as he swallowed the heavy lump in the back of his throat. He replied slowly, "I think...I think James might be innocent this time."

* * *

"Very good, young Master Malfoy," Mr. McLaggen applauded from his seat at the other side of the room. "However, when playing the violin, make sure that you play through the notes. Don't be in such a hurry to rush to the next one," he instructed. Scorpius, who had just played nonstop for the past hour and a half, sighed tiredly and replied,

"Understood, Mr. McLaggen." He sighed again and then began to play once more. It wasn't as if he didn't like playing the violin. He did. He'd just rather be doing something else at the moment.

In fact, Scorpius had felt like this for most of the summer. First, it was the business meeting at the Ministry in which his father thought it necessary to bring him. He had to sit very quietly during the whole proceeding, which Scorpius had found odd that they would even _allow_ such a thing. Even more strange was the fact that he wasn't the only student there. Along with Scorpius there was Pyro Zabini, Nathaniel Crow and even Jackson Nott. There were a few others that Scorpius recognized from the fifth and six years at Hogwarts; two of them being Andrew Nott and a seventh year named Jasper Parkinson, who Scorpius had met on several occasions.

When the meeting finally started all of the students were placed in comfortable chairs alongside a black wall and listened intently as their parents talked amongst themselves.

**Flashback:**

_"Now, to start this little gathering off, I would like to thank everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules in order to come here today," Draco began with a smirk on his face._

_"What is this about, Mr. Malfoy? Like you said, we all have things to do," Mr. Warrington demanded, as he took another drag from his cigar and blew out a large cloud of smoke._

_"We might find out, Cassius, if you'd shut that chimney you call a mouth," Mr. Montague, hissed from the other side of the table. Mr. Warrington glared at the bearded man across from him before smirking and taking yet another drag of his cigar._

_"This is ridiculous. Why are we here, Mr. Malfoy? And do make it quick. Some of our associates simply do not have the attention span," Professor Nott said with a bored drawl._

_"Very well," Draco continued. "I'm here to point out a known fact," he said, as he stood up and began walking down the length of the table. "And the fact is this…that being pureblood doesn't mean anything anymore." Scorpius nearly jumped in his seat when there was an immediate loud and angry reaction from the entire table._

_"What is this, Malfoy, a formal way of telling us that you're going blood traitor on us?!" Damien Pritchard shouted._

_"Yes! Has the great and powerful Draco Malfoy become a mudblood sympathizer without the rest of us knowing?" Mr. Ethan Softclouds added with a mocking tone._

_The ranting went on for several minutes, but it suddenly stopped when Draco began to laugh. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, do not worry. I have not turned my back on you. I am merely pointing out the ugly truth."_

_"And what truth is that?" Scorpius heard his Uncle Adrian Pucey hiss._

_"The truth is, if we continue in the direction we're going, being Purebloods will no longer matter. And we also can't return to the disapproved ways of the Purebloods being magically superior to half-bloods and Muggleborns," Draco replied._

_"So we can't continue the way things are now, but we also can't go back to the way things were," __Graham Montague repeated slowly. "I'll have to say, Malfoy, that doesn't leave us many choices."_

_Draco's smirk grew as he returned to the front of the table and sat on the corner. "You're absolutely right. That doesn't leave us many options, but it does leave us the right option."_

_"And what is this grand option you've found, Malfoy," Blaise asked with a sneer._

_"We found a faction and we'll make a movement to allow ex-DeathEaters to work in the Ministry," Draco announced proudly._

_Mr. Flint, who had been quiet throughout the meeting, finally spoke up. "And why would I want that? The Flint family has been doing very well in the broom bus_i_ness. In fact, I just bought the Falmouth Falcons last week so why should I care who works at the Ministry?"_

_"You should care because…no. Why take my word for it? Everyone raise your hand if you could get a position, with any power at all, at the Ministry." Draco asked confidently._

_To everyone's surprise, the only raised hands were that of Professor Nott, Blaise Zabini, Ethan Softclouds and William Yaxley._

"_Any more questions? No? Good. Now, let's get down to business," Draco demanded with a smirk._

_The meeting continued for another hour and then Scorpius and his father returned to Malfoy Manor. Along the way, Draco swore Scorpius to secrecy that he was never to speak to anyone about what he had witnessed unless it was directly to him._

**End flashback**

"That will be all for today young Master Malfoy," Mr. McLaggen said suddenly, making Scorpius' body jolt in surprise. _ "I must've spaced out during my lesson again,"_ Scorpius thought to himself, before shrugging it off. He began packing up his violin and left the music room and headed down the hallway.

He wasn't even halfway down the hall when he heard singing coming from one of the rooms. Normally, this wouldn't mean anything since he was at Flora Flint's Music School, but the voices he heard sounded so familiar he decided to go check it out.

When Scorpius got to the room he quietly poked his head inside and was surprised to see his friends, Paavai and Avery, as well as his year mates, Megan and Isabella. He also saw the two girls that were at his house during the Christmas party. _"What were their names?" _Scorpius thought, as he racked his brain to remember. After a moment, Scorpius suddenly remembered they were Emma Softclouds and Piper Dragonstail.

All of the girls stood on a small stage and were singing in front of Flora Flint herself, as she listened to them carefully and gave instructions to them every now and then.

"Lovely! Absolutely lovely! However, girls, the summer festival is in a few weeks and we'll be required to sing for that. So put your hearts into it! We have to be ready! Do you have any idea how important this it to your families? This song has been sung for generations. It was an honor for them and it will be an honor for all of you. Now, let's begin from the top. One, two…one, two, three…"

All six girls then began to sing:

_"I hear your voice on the wind_  
_and I hear you call out my name._

_"Listen, my child," you say to me_  
_I am the voice of your history._  
_Be not afraid, come follow me._  
_Answer my call and I'll set you free._

_I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain._  
_I am the voice of your hunger and pain._  
_I am the voice that's always calling you._  
_I am the voice, I will remain._

_I am the voice in the fields when the summer's gone._  
_The dance of the leaves when the autumn winds blow._  
_Ne'er do I sleep throughout all the cold winter long._  
_I am the force that in springtime will grow._

_I am the voice of the past that will always be._  
_Filled with my sorrow and blood in my fields._  
_I am the voice of the future, bring me your peace._  
_Bring me your peace and my wounds they will heal._

_I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain._  
_I am the voice of your hunger and pain._  
_I am the voice that's always calling you._  
_I am the voice, I am the voice._

_I am the voice of the past that will always be._  
_I am the voice of your hunger and pain._  
_I am the voice of the future._  
_I am the voice, I am the voice._  
_I am the voice, I am the voice."_

When the song was over Scorpius was speechless. He had known that both Paavai and Avery took singing lessons, but he had no idea how good they were. Scorpius was so busy listening to Flora Flint giving the girls praise that he didn't notice Jackson standing right beside him until he cleared his throat, which caused Scorpius' heart to nearly jump into his throat.

"Damn it, Nott! How in Merlin's name do you always sneak up on me like that?" Scorpius hissed quietly at his fellow Slytherin.

"Did you enjoy the song? I thought Megan was little flat, but all together they weren't half bad," Jackson commented emotionlessly. "By the way, do you have any more books in your Manor's library?" Momentarily caught off guard by the sudden change in subject, it took Scorpius a second or two to figure out what he was being asked. "What? No, the library doesn't have any new books. And, besides, you haven't answered my question on how you manage to sneak around so much." Jackson looked as if he was going to reveal something, but then a familiar voice beat him to it.

"Hey! Well, if it ain't my favorite, cute, little first-year Slytherin." Scorpius rolled his eyes, as he turned around and looked into the deep ever-changing eyes of Emma Softclouds. "Hello, Emma. How has your summer been so far?" Scorpius asked dully.

"Aw, how sweet! You're attempting small talk with me! Well, to answer your question, I've been hanging out with Crow. Nathaniel might be a little stoic at times, but he does whatever I want so life is good," she feistily replied with a smirk. "And, speak of the devil, there he is! Later, Malfoy," she said with a half-hearted wave before strutting towards the lanky, dark-haired wizard and disappeared down the hall with him.

"Merlin, I _hate_ her," Avery said glaring, as she came out of the room, alongside Paavai. However, any ill mood she had quickly vanished when she saw Scorpius standing out in the hall.

"Hi, Scorpius!" Avery chimed, as she latched on to his arm and brought him into a half hug. "Hey, Avery. Hey, Paavai," Scorpius answered, as he greeted the both of them.

"Hey, Scorpius, how was your violin lesson?" Paavai asked softly.

"It went fine, but I have to get home and start on the potions assignment Father wanted me to do today," Scorpius answered solemnly.

"Oh, drat! I wanted to hang out with you today," Avery said with a little pout on her lips. "Yeah, well, maybe next time." Scorpius replied quickly.

After Scorpius said a couple of quick good-byes, he made his way to the floo network and begrudgingly flooed his way back home.


	8. The summer festival

**Authors note...** ** Yeah I'm still here and I am sorry for the long Waite, but I had to make sure this Chapter was perfect before posting it. Also I have this goal on at least earning 8 reviews before posting again about two weeks from now so here's to hoping ;) Also this Chapter is dedicated to my good friend Hot elf, "I hope things get easier for you and I hope you enjoy this chapter and it cheers you up";)  
**

* * *

"But, Mum, I didn't do it!" James whined to his mother from his upstairs room. Meanwhile, Rose and Albus listened, as they sat across from each other at the Potter's kitchen table. It had been three days since the infamous, "Pie Incident." And ever since then, both James and Fred remained punished and, therefore, banned from attending the upcoming Summer Festival.

"I have heard enough out of you, James Sirius Potter! And, until you tell the truth, you'll be staying in your room!" And with that, Rose heard her Aunt Ginny shut James' bedroom door and then make her way down the stairs.

"Merlin, this bloody sucks!" Albus grumbled from the opposite end of the wooden table, as he shoved his turkey sandwich away from him in disgust.

"Albus, if your sandwich has tomatoes on it, just take them off!" Rose lectured, as she took a small sip of her grape juice. "Otherwise, you are simply just wasting food," she continued in annoyance.

"Why, did this have to happen, Rose?" Albus asked with an annoyed sigh. "It's the first time James has _ever_ gotten caught for a prank and gotten into trouble for it and I can't enjoy it. Why? Because I happen to think James is innocent!" Albus fumed, before dropping his forehead onto the table with a dull thud.

Rose couldn't help but shake her head in amusement, as she watched her cousin's display. "Albus, don't be so dramatic. Besides, if your assumption is correct, James would end up missing the Summer Festival for no good reason and that wouldn't be fair," Rose remarked, before she suddenly started to smile at Albus. "Holy Cricket! I have an idea!" Rose squealed suddenly and hopped out of her chair and rushed out of the kitchen.

"Hey, where are you going?" Albus asked when he saw Rose quickly leave the room. Rose turned around and gave Albus a big smile. "Come on, Albus! Let's prove James' innocence!" Albus' eyes grew wide in surprise. "Why would I want to get James _out_ of trouble?" he asked cautiously.

"Oh, come on, Albus. It will be fun! It will be just like when our parents tried to figure out Sirius Black's innocence!" Rose exclaimed, as she stood there bouncing excitedly up and down.

Albus looked at Rose skeptically and said, "Are you _really_ comparing the innocence of the notorious mass murderer, Sirius Black, with the innocence of the notorious mass prankster, James Potter?"

Rose's smile dropped a little and she placed her hands on her hips and shot back, "Okay, not the best analogy, granted, but it'll still be loads of fun!"

"Yeah, maybe. But what if we find out that James _is_ the culprit?" Albus asked, as he stood up and made his way towards Rose.

"Then we present the evidence to Aunt Ginny or Uncle Harry," Rose declared confidently, with a nod.

Albus appeared thoughtful for a moment and then nodded in agreement with his cousin's plan. "Okay, I'm in. But where do we go first?" he asked.

Rose thought for a minute and then suddenly snapped her fingers. "We should go talk to James. Maybe he can tell us how some of his exploding chips got out of his room and into the pies."

So both Albus and Rose quickly made their way upstairs towards James' room. Rose knocked a few times and said, "James, it's us. Open up!"

There was a sound of shifting objects before the door was opened by James, who looked both annoyed and confused. "What do _you_ two want?" James asked gruffly.

"I changed my mind. Let's go!" Albus said, sounding just as annoyed as his brother. But before he could walk away, he was stopped by Rose, who grabbed his arm and held him in place.

"James, you claim you're innocent. Now, if that's true, do you mind telling me how your exploding chips made it into Grandma Weasley's Pies?"

James immediately buried his face into his hands and let out a loud groan. "I've already thought of that! When I opened my box of exploding chips, I was missing seventeen of them," he replied defensively.

"James, you don't expect us to actually believe that, do you?" Albus asked, as he looked at his brother skeptically.

"It's true! I swear on my magic, it's true! I didn't put those chips in the pies!" James exclaimed. He then turned towards the bed, spun around and immediately flopped backwards onto it in complete frustration.

Rose gave her cousin a long hard look, as she considered what he had said. If there was one thing she knew in the world, it was when a wizard or witch swore on their magic about anything. This meant they were more than likely telling the truth. "_After all, not even a slimy snake like Malfoy would go back on a wizard vow," _Rose thought to herself.

"Okay, James, if you didn't do it, then who got into your stash and managed to put them all in the pies?" Rose asked, as she paced back and forth in front of Albus and James, who were now sitting on the bed. James shrugged slightly and replied,

"I have no idea. The only ones who could have gotten into my stash are sitting in her-..." James said suddenly trailing off, as a look of realization quickly crossed his face. "Why that little _sneak_!" James yelled suddenly, as he immediately marched out of the bedroom, leaving both Albus and Rose in his wake.

"Wait, James! Where do you think you're going?" Rose demanded, as she and Albus quickly chased after him. "Aunt Ginny told you to stay in your room!" she yelled out after him, but James was not listening. He quickly marched downstairs and straight into the back yard.

"James, will you just slow down and expla-...," Albus tried to intervene, but was quickly cut off when James yelled up to the old tree house.

"Lily! Get down here, right now or I'll climb up there and get you!" James shouted. Both Albus and Rose's eyes grew wide after they realized what James was thinking.

"Oh, come on, James! You can't honestly believe that little Lily, your 10-year-old sister, had something to do with this!" Rose scolded him, as she folded her arms over her chest.

But James ignored her and continued shouting. "Lily, I said get down here _right_ this instant!" he bellowed.

A short moment later, Lily's little red head stuck out from one of the tree house windows, as she peered down at her brother. "Go away, James! Huey and I are in the middle of a _very_ important club meeting and all your yelling is distracting us!"

"It was you, wasn't it?! You were the one who put those exploding chips into the pies!" James screamed back at her, but Lily didn't answer. Angrily, James shouted at her again, "Wasn't it?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lily replied dismissively. "Now, if you're finished yelling at me, I'm going back to my club meeting," she continued, as she began to pull her head back through the window. As she did so a soft, but firm, voice spoke to the group.

"What's all the yelling about?" Rose and the three Potter children all became very quiet as they saw their Dad/Uncle Harry walking towards them. Immediately, all three of the Potter children began speaking at once. Meanwhile, Rose just stood nearby in silence.

"One at a time! One at a time!" Harry commanded, as he raised his hands for their silence. When the three stopped talking over each other Harry began to speak again. "Now, for starters, Princess, how about you climb out of your tree house so we can get this problem sorted out?" Lily sighed audibly and then began climbing down from the tree house with Hugo right behind her.

When Harry had all of the children gathered around him he continued, "So what happened?" Once again, all three Potter children immediately began talking at the same time, each trying to be heard over the other. "Hold it! I said, _one at a time_," Harry said, trying to keep his frustration in check. "Or, better yet, Rose, why don't _you _tell me what happened?"

Rose's eyes grew as wide as saucers and they were filled with a mixture of both uncertainty and surprise. "If you don't mind me asking, Uncle Harry, why me?" Rose asked quietly.

Harry looked at Rose with proud eyes and replied, "Because I know you'll tell me the truth. Now, tell me what's going on."

Rose nodded her head in understanding before shyly looking over towards her cousins. She took a calming breath and then began. "Well, you see, Uncle Harry, Albus and I thought we should try and figure out why James would pull a prank that would obviously get him into a lot of trouble, especially when it was so close to the Summer Festival. So, naturally, we started asking James several questions about it," Rose explained, as she tried not to leave out any important details. "But, James, apparently, had this insane idea that Lily had something to do with it. So that's why we're all out here," Rose finished confidently, believing she hadn't forgotten anything important.

Now, it was Harry's turn to look surprised. He shot a curious glance towards Lily, the youngest Potter, who immediately looked away from her father's gaze. "Princess, were _you_ the one who pulled that prank at the Burrow?" Harry asked carefully.

Lily was looking down to avoid her dad's eyes, as she mumbled a reply. "What was that?" Harry asked, emphatically.

Lily sighed with resignation as she slightly nodded her head and mumbled, "Sorry."

"I knew it!" James exclaimed. "I _knew_ you were the one who'd gotten into my room and stole my exploding chips!" he continued angrily.

"That's enough, James!" Harry scolded his son. He looked at his daughter in disappointment. "'Lily, do you mind telling me why you did this?" he asked.

Lily's eyes became watery and she began to cry. She looked up at her dad and answered in a soft voice, "I…hiccup…I just wanted to prove that I could do the same cool stuff that James could do…hiccup." Lily said. "But when I saw how much James got into trouble for it, I was too scared to come forward. I am _so_ very sorry," she continued softly.

Harry couldn't keep the firm look he had on his face while watching his daughter cry. He sighed and then replied, "I guess…I guesswe should take you to see your grandparents so you can apologize to them. As for you James, I suppose you're no longer grounded."

James' eyes lit up with relief, as he asked quickly, "Does this mean I get to go to the Summer Festival?"

Lily became instantly worried and added, "And does this mean I can't go?"

Harry looked at both his children thoughtfully for a moment and then replied, "I will have to talk to your mum, but I think you'll both be able to go."

"What?!" James suddenly exclaimed. "But I wasn't allowed to go to the Summer Festival when you thought I did it!" he fumed.

Harry looked at his son, looked over at his daughter and then looked back at his son and smiled. "First offense," he said simply and started walking back to the house with Lily and Hugo, who hadn't said a word the entire time. But just before they reached the Potter home, Lily turned around and looked at them with a wicked smile and then she disappeared into the house.

Albus looked at both Rose and James. "You don't think she was faking that whole crying thing, do you?" Albus asked with uncertainty in his voice.

Rose shook her head and replied, "No, she wouldn't do that," she said assuredly. She then grimaced and added, "Besides, only someone as slimy as a Malfoy could pull that off."

* * *

Scorpius was right in the middle of a most-welcomed sleep after finishing a long day of private lessons. He was suddenly jerked awake by an earth-shattering scream. As he tried to shake off his own drowsiness, the screaming became more intense. _"Not again,"_ Scorpius muttered to himself, as he climbed out of his bed and quickly made his way down the hall towards his sister's room. He was greeted immediately by Shackle.

"Uh, Shackle, wouldn't go in there right now, if he were you, young Master Malfoy!" Shackle advised in his usual raspy voice. But Scorpius ignored him and leaned against the bedroom's door frame because he had seen it all before.

Scorpius' mother was sitting in a chair, softly sobbing, while she watched her husband try to restrain their daughter as she thrashed around and screamed.

"Calm down, Lyra! You're safe, just wake up!" Draco commanded calmly, despite his daughter's shrieks and pained cries. He tried to hold her body close to his in a desperate attempt to prevent her from hurting herself, but it did little to stop Lyra from flailing a hand towards her father's right cheek, which left a bloody cut in the possess. "Bloody hell!" Draco hissed in obvious pain, but he continued to try and hold Lyra's little body still.

Upon hearing her husband's cursing, Astoria leapt out of her chair and began to panic. "N-...nothing's working, Draco! I...I don't know what to do! Draco, tell me what should we do?" Astoria pleaded helplessly, as she began sobbing into her hands.

Scorpius couldn't stand to see his mother cry anymore. He could tell his father wanted to comfort his wife, but he had to have his full attention on Lyra. So when Scorpius entered his sister's room and grabbed his mother's hand, neither parent questioned him. Although Scorpius' mother was still taller than him, he was still able to support her weight and he began guiding her back to her chair.

Suddenly, Lyra's body immediately went still and her eyes shot open. Eyes that were normally a stunning greenish-silver were now a pale white. She then she began to speak in a harsh, hoarse voice that was not her own:

"_The Dark Lord is vanquished, but the world is not at peace, for he is but one piece among many that will become the long path, leading to the final act. A martyr's death will ignite a war between the two worlds and tales of forbidden love will tip the scales. A Dark leader will arise, who will bring truth from the shadows, but beware of the return of the lost heir. Between the two, only through victory, will the fighting truly end."_

Lyra's body then immediately relaxed and her eyes began to slowly refocus. After a few blinks, she looked up at her father and began to cry when she saw the shallow cut on his cheek. "I...I…_hiccup_…I'm sorry, Daddy. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't!" she sobbed, as she buried her head into the crook of Draco's neck.

"It's okay. You'll be just fine, sweetheart," Draco said in a soothing voice. He began waving to Astoria to signal that she could take over. After carefully passing Lyra over to his wife,

Draco stood up from the bed and made his way out of the room. But, prior to leaving the room, he shot Scorpius a look that could only be best described as uncertainty. "Scorpius, how about you go back to bed and get some rest," Draco said. By themselves, the words he'd chosen implied it was optional, yet his tired, though always cold, eyes said otherwise.

Scorpius didn't want to go back to bed. He wanted to know how they were going to help Lyra with her manifesting, seer abilities. He wanted to ask his father what he thought the prophecy meant that Lyra had spoken. Instead, Scorpius just nodded at his father, looked one more time at his mother, who was now tucking Lyra back into bed, and quickly left the room. He made his way back to his own room, climbed back into bed and lay there in a weak attempt to catch a few more hours of sleep.

When Scorpius awoke later that morning he dressed and came down the stairs and headed to the dining room for breakfast. He wasn't at all surprised at what he saw. His mother was looking over her modeling portfolio while carefully eating some freshly made Eggs Benedict, which included some chopped shrimp, instead of the commonly-served sausage or bacon. Meanwhile, Lyra was quietly eating some yogurt and chopped fruit from a small bowl.

Judging from the pleasurable morning they were having, no one would've _ever_ known something serious had happened overnight, _"Which__ is exactly how things are done in the Malfoy household,"_ Scorpius thought to himself. In fact, the only way Scorpius was sure he hadn't dreamed last night's events was because he spied two small headache reliever potions sitting half empty beside Lyra.

Scorpius was just about to take his usual seat, at the right side of where his father normally sits, when Astoria asked politely, "Oh, Scorpius, before you start eating, would you be a prince and go retrieve your father from his study?" As she turned her attention back to her portfolio, Astoria began muttering, mostly to herself, "I swear, he is _so _obsessed with his work that…oh, that's nice! But maybe I should add a blue belt and maybe a…," she trailed off and then began writing in her notebook.

Scorpius barely managed to hold back an annoyed sigh, as he gave his mother a quick nod and left the dining room and headed down the long hallway that would lead to his father's study. When he was within eye shot from the study he began slowing his pace. He saw that the door of the study was wide open and he could hear the voice of Mr. Zabini talking to his father in a hushed tone.

"I've gotten what you asked for, Draco, now will you do me the same?" Blaise asked with a silky tone.

Draco was silent for a moment before pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers in frustration. "You've been hounding me for years to agree to this deal of yours. And now that you have the very thing that could ruin all my plans, you're going to extort me for it?!" Draco asked curtly.

Blaise slyly smirked at Draco and replied, "Angry?"

Draco scoffed, "Of course not," and pulled out a small blade. "I wouldn't have been friends with you, if you weren't so...as much as a snake as I am," Draco said smirking, while he lifted the small blade to his hand and sliced a small cut on his thumb.

"Do you have the contract?" Draco asked, trying not to let any of the blood spill on the carpet.

Blaise smirked and pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment. "Naturally, and I think you'll find all of the arrangements agreeable," he replied.

Scorpius watched with great interest, as his father read over the mysterious contract. Draco then lifted his silver brow and commented, "Really, Blaise?" Blaise responded with a smirk and a simple shrug of his shoulders.

Draco sighed in annoyance and placed the contract on his desk. He then pressed his blood-covered thumb onto the bottom part of the contract. The parchment shimmered, as Draco quickly rolled it up and handed it Blaise, who still had that annoying smirk on his face.

"Well, I hope you're satisfied, Zabini. Now, give it to me," Draco demanded, holding out his hand. Blaise chuckled, as he opened his briefcase and pulled out a small, purple, silk pouch. He carefully handed it to Draco, who immediately opened the pouch and reached in to pull out a small, teal-blue orb. The orb looked as though it encased a type of mist inside of it. Draco stared at the orb intensely, then nodded in satisfaction and gently placed the orb into the silk pouch.

"And no one has seen it yet, correct?" Draco asked tentatively, directing his eyes straight at Blaise.

Blaise nodded in affirmation while walking over to pick up his overcoat and then proceeded toward the fireplace. Just as Blaise was scooping up some floo powder, he turned and looked at Draco slyly. "You won't regret signing off on this deal, old friend. After all, this will benefit _both_ our families," he said with an air of confidence. And with that, Blaise threw his powder onto the floor and shouted, "The Ministry of Magic," and disappeared into a blast of green flames.

Draco walked over to a small, black chest that sat on the top shelf of his bookcase. He gently placed the silk pouch inside and then cast several curses upon it. If Scorpius knew anything about his father, he knew a person would be _very_ lucky to wake up in a hospital bed, after trying to open that chest. _"That's if they woke up at all," _Scorpius thought to himself.

Scorpius decided to act as if he had just arrived at his father's study, but before he could approach the door, Draco said, "You can come in now, Scorpius."

_"Of course, he knew I was here. He always knows,"_ Scorpius thought bitterly, as he stood up straight and walked into the study. "Sorry, sir," Scorpius said quietly.

Draco looked at his son with amusement and replied, "I don't know if I should punish you for eavesdropping or punish you for doing it so badly." Scorpius' body began to relax a bit when he realized his father wasn't angry, just amused. "What did I say about spying?" Draco asked; although rhetorically. "Always use a Notice-Me-Not charm so you won't get caught," he stated firmly.

Scorpius then found himself smirking at his father. "I'm saving that little spell for when I return to Hogwarts next term," he quipped.

Draco smiled slightly at Scorpius and walked past him to exit the study. He turned around and replied, "Come along, Scorpius. I'm sure your mother has some grand ideas on what there is for you and your sister to do today."

Scorpius sighed wearily and asked,"More lessons?"

Draco smiled and answered, "Don't worry. It's just ballroom dancing with all the other Pureblood children."

Scorpius tried his best to suppress an eye roll while commenting dryly, "Fantastic."

* * *

"Come on, guys!" Rose called out eagerly, as the whole family slowly began to gather around the Burrow's fireplace. Today was the day Rose had been looking forward to all summer. It was the day of the annual Summer Festival. _ "If I could just get my family out here quickly enough and in an orderly fashion,"_ Rose thought, looking at her very large family. She tried her best to figure out the best way to get them all through the fireplace as fast as they could go.

Rose was so busy thinking about the possibility of shoving two family members at a time inside the fireplace, which would improve floo speed, that she didn't even notice that both Albus and Dominique had come and stood on either side of her. Dominique snapped her fingers in front of Rose's face, which immediately caused Rose to break her concentration.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say something, Dom?" Rose asked in a startled voice.

"Ease up, Rosie, or you weel end up popping like a balloon?" Dominique giggled, as she put on her brand new baby blue sun hat. "Zo, what do you sink?" Dominique asked, quickly striking her favorite pose. "I sink eet matches perfectly wis my sun dress, no?"

Rose smiled as she gave her cousin the once over. The hat _did_ match her dress _very_ well. Both the sun dress and the hat were colored baby blue and Dominique's golden hair was tied neatly in a ballerina bun so as to not mess up her hair when she took off her hat.

At that moment, Rose then observed her own clothing. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a grey and purple T-shirt. Thanks to her mum's special hair charms, Rose's brownish-red hair was slightly more tamed than usual, but it was nowhere as neat and manageable as Dominique's.

While Rose quietly began feeling self-conscious about herself, Albus looked at Dominique curiously and asked, "Why does it matter that your hat matches your dress?"

Dominique immediately looked at Albus in horror. "Why does eet matter? Why does eet matter? Zis dress eez a one-of-a-kind design! Oh, never mind! You know what, Albus? Clothes are _wasted_ on you!" Dominique ranted and stomped her foot on the floor childishly.

Before Albus could respond to Dominique's outburst, Hermione whistled loudly in order to get everyone's attention. When she was absolutely sure she had everyone's attention she began to immediately give out orders. "Now, listen up everyone! I want a neat and orderly line right here in front of the fireplace," Hermione commanded. Everyone quickly got into position, with floo powder in hand, so it didn't take any time at all for the entire family to get through the fireplace and arrive at Diagon Alley.

When Rose walked out from one of the official Diagon Alley Floo Network fireplaces, she couldn't hold back a squeal when she saw the way Diagon Alley _actually_ looked. The seemingly endless road was decorated with brightly-colored banners, streamers with confetti flying through the air all around them. There were acrobats, jugglers, fire breathers and even stilts were roaming the famous wizard street.

Rose stood in awe because it looked as though everyone who lived in the wizarding world were there in attendance. _"I wouldn't be surprised if that were true,"_ Rose thought to herself.

"Wow!" Albus said aloud. He then turned around and flashed Rose and Dominique a big goofy grin and shouted, "Come on! Let's go look around!"

However, before the three could depart from the rest of the Weasley brood, Ginny pulled them aside and cautioned, "Now, I know you three want to have fun and explore a bit, but make sure you stay together and do not leave Diagon Alley. Do you understand?"

"Don't worry, Aunt Ginny. I'll keep them in line," Rose assured her aunt with a confident smile. Ginny smiled sweetly at Rose and replied, "I bet you will, Rose."

"Can we please go now, Mum?" Albus begged, not wanting to miss out on anything.

"Yes Albus, you three can go now," Ginny said with a laugh.

"I want to go too!" Lily demanded, as she began tugging on the edge of Harry's shirt.

"Come on, Princess. How about we go and get you some gelato," Harry suggested, as he and Ron let both Lily and Hugo run through the thick crowd, while the rest of the Weasleys went their own separate ways, leaving Rose, Albus and Dominique to their own devices.

"So, where do you girls want to go first?" Albus asked, as they began walking through the immense crowd.

" 'Ay! Why don't we play zome of zose games over zare?" Dominique suggested, although she was already making her way towards one of the stands, which forced Albus and Rose into running, just to keep up with her.

"Dom, slow down! Aunt Ginny told us to stick together!" Rose scolded her.

"Oh, whatever, Rosy," Dominique replied, as she waved off Rose's warning and turned towards the booth worker running one of the games. Rose couldn't hold back a smile when she saw the booth worker had charmed his mouth and nose to look like a duck bill.

The man smiled and addressed the three with a silly quack, "How many?"

"Zree, please" Dominique replied and giggled as she handed the man three sickles. In return, she was handed three blue wand-like sticks.

Dominique turned and handed two of the sticks to Albus and Rose, but Albus looked at Dominique totally clueless. "Uh, Dom? What are we supposed to do with these?" he asked, holding the stick awkwardly in his hand.

Before Dominique could answer, Rose's mind suddenly went into overdrive. "I know what these are!" she said eagerly and pulled a book out of her bag. She quickly flipped through the pages and stopped. "Yes! Here it is! Gesturing towards the blue-colored sticks, Rose said, "These are water wands and you use them to play Dousing Flames!"

"What flames?" asked Albus, looking even more confused than before. Right on cue, the booth worker waved his wand, making five floating flames randomly appear, disappear and then reappear once more.

"Apparently, you use the wand to douse as many flames as you can within a minute. And because the wands have been modified to only cast water, the Ministry allows underage wizards to use them, as long as they remain in a wizard-populated area," Rose commented, as she closed the book and squeezed it closely to her chest. "Fascinating!" she declared happily.

Dominique smiled and nodded, letting Rose know that everything just read was correct. "Zat's right Rosy! You know, I 'aven't played zis game zince my mama and papa took us to visit our Uncle Charlie and Aunt Ella in Romania a few years ago. We went to zare Dragon Festival and I know I probably played zis game for many 'ours," Dominique said, as she got into position and began shooting water towards as many flames as she could.

"Uh, Rose? Where did you get that book?" Albus asked suddenly, as he watched Dominique rapidly dousing flames. "Oh, I brought it so it could help me today," Rose replied and carefully handed her book over to Albus.

Albus read the title aloud, "_Enjoyably Facts and Things To Do and See At the Wizard World's Summer Festival, written by Willy Wormwood."_ He looked at Rose in astonishment. "You brought a guide about the Summer Festival so you could read it while you're_ attending_ the Summer Festival? Rose you're _completely_ mental sometimes. You know that, right?" Albus said with a snicker.

A hurtful look briefly crossed Rose's face, but then she immediately became angry. Rose quickly snatched the book away from Albus and whacked him hard across the arm, which made Albus cry out in pain. "Don't you _ever_ call me mental again, Albus Severus Potter, unless you want me to pull out a bigger book next time!" she fumed.

Just as Albus mumbled an apology, Dominique suddenly began jumping up and down and squealed in delight. "La victoire est mienne! I am zee queen of zee fire dousing!" Dominique cheered, as the booth worker handed her a giant stuffed bunny.

"You know, this game kind of reminds me of that muggle game, "Whack-A-Mole," Albus remarked casually, as he held the water wand and began shooting recklessly.

Dominique's victorious grin had quickly transformed into a horrified gasp at hearing Albus' comment. "Who would _ever_ want to play zee game where you 'ave to 'urt zuch cute leetle animals?" she said in dismay.

"No, no. The moles are plastic, Dom," Rose clarified. Unlike Rose and Albus' families, Dominique's family never visited the muggle world. So when it came to anything muggle related, Dominique was less than knowledgeable.

"Zat eez ridiculous, Rosy. Everyone knows zat zee moles are cute and fuzzy and zay are definitely _not_ made of zis plastic," Dominique giggled, as she snuggled the stuffed bunny against her cheek.

After playing few more rounds of Dousing Flames, the three cousins spent the next three hours buying a variety of treats, playing various games and watching some very exciting shows. But none of the shows were as exciting and thrilling to Rose than seeing Sandor the Dreaded Fire Breather.

"Come one, come all!" a dark-skinned man, wearing a brightly-colored court jester costume, shouted in a sing-song voice to the crowd of people gathering around the stage. "Prepare yourselves for a sight you've never, _ever_ seen before!"

Rose was immediately sold. After hearing about the opportunity of seeing something she hasn't ever seen before, she immediately grabbed the hands of both Albus and Dominique and dragged them into the sea of people and pushed her way towards the front of the stage so they could get a better look.

"_What_ is that guy wearing?" Albus asked and laughed under his breath.

"Don't laugh at him, Albus! For your information, he is dressed in the traditional clothing that a male gypsy performer would wear back in those times," Rose replied matter-of-factly.

"What are gypsies?" Albus asked, totally clueless.

Rose sighed and answered, "Gypsies, Albus, are free-spirited magic users, who operate outside of the Ministry law." "I read about them last year and found them to be _quite _interesting," she explained.

"Shhh, you two! Zay are about to start," Dominique whispered, just as the jester began speaking again.

"Now, introducing, a man, _so_ powerful, _so_ dangerous and _so_ destructive, that he has been forced to move all over the world! Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Sandor the Dreaded Fire Breather!"

The crowd immediately began applauding, but was quickly silenced when a man silently appeared, who stood easily at seven feet tall. He walked slowly out to the front of the stage. The man was shirtless and was covered with dragon and phoenix tattoos. He had a long, twisted, black beard and was nearly bald, save for a long ponytail in the back.

In each hand, Sandor held two long staffs with hoops at each end. He suddenly lifted them over his head and began to wave them around in the air. He paused dramatically with the staffs high in the air before quickly bringing one down to his mouth. He blew into the staff and, the next thing Rose saw was a roaring burst of fire that came shooting out of the staff. Before her eyes, Rose saw the staff immediately transform into a magnificent phoenix.

Sandor then brought the other staff down to his mouth and blew into it in the same fashion. And, like before, a roaring burst of fire shot out from the staff; however, instead of a phoenix, the staff had transformed itself into a mighty dragon. Sandor kept blowing into the staffs, making the dragon and phoenix reappear, as if they were in an epic battle. In the show's finale, the two fire beasts collided and exploded with a loud, "Bam!" and were instantly gone. The crowd immediately erupted into cheers.

"That was so _amazing_!" Rose declared, as they began leaving the stage area and walked down the crowded road. "I've never seen fire magic used in such a way. It's obvious that he used some sort of fire charm while, simultaneously used transfiguration spells to make the dragon and phoenix appear," she chattered. "But what I _can't_ figure out is how he did all of that without a wand," Rose said, totally perplexed, which was a feeling she didn't like having at all.

"Come on, Rosy. We don't 'ave to go back to zee 'ogwarts for another month. Zo we ease up on zee learning obsession, no?" asked Dominique.

Rose looked at Dominique in a way that could only be described as distraught. "Bu-…but…" Rose began, but was immediately was cut off by an outburst from Albus.

"Hey look! There's Luigi selling that Butterbeer gelato at the Leaky Cauldron. Want to go get some?" Albus suggested excitedly.

"I did not know zare was a flavor gelato of Butterbeer. Eez eet any good?" Dominique asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Rose, who quickly recovered from her distraught mood, was smiling at the thought of enjoying some more of the Butterbeer gelato. "It's _very_ good, Dom, and probably the best gelato I've ever had!"

The three walked towards the Leaky Cauldron and Rose was feeling very high spirited, for she was truly having a wonderful time. But once they had approached the pub, Rose instantly was overcome with a feeling of dread. She hadn't felt this way since…

* * *

"It's still your turn, you know," Jackson remarked to Scorpius in his usual bored tone. Scorpius was in the middle of a challenging game of Wizard Chess with Jackson while they waited at the Leaky Cauldron for Avery and Paavai to finish their three-hour long music recital. The girls were performing at one of his father's grand hotels in Diagon Alley. The boys were waiting at the pub so all of them could enjoy the Summer Festival together.

"I know it's still my turn, Nott. I'm just trying to figure out my next move," Scorpius said with a sly smirk, as he moved his bishop to a more strategic location.

"Ah, Malfoy, always the strategist, "Jackson said coolly, as he produced an evil smile. "But, unfortunately for you, I've played this game with you enough times to know _all_ your moves," Jackson mocked, as he moved his rook and proceeded to smash Scorpius' knight.

At that point, Vaisey came over and took a seat at their table while eating some gelato. "All right, two things. First, this Butterbeer gelato is fantastic! You guys have to try some. Secondly, why are we sitting in _here_ when we could be out _there_, enjoying a perfectly good Summer Festival? Vaisey said in annoyance.

"Because, they made us promise that we would wait for them. I don't feel like breaking a promise, just so I can suffer hearing Avery's rant or spend all of my time trying not to look at Paavai's, "You just hexed my owl," face. However, if you'd like to go by yourself and regret it later, by all means, go," Scorpius said mockingly, as he slowly smirked at Vaisey.

"And here I thought we were Slytherin's, not a bunch of do-what-we're-told-to-do Hufflepuffs" Vaisey said with a nasty sneer.

"Bending the rules to benefit us is one thing, but breaking the rules entirely is both reckless and foolish," Jackson explained in a condescending tone.

"Besides, being reckless and foolish is more in line with the Gryffindor department," Scorpius said with a snicker. "So, if you think about it, we're being more Slytherin by just sitting here," he quipped.

Vaisey looked confused for a moment before smirking and answered, "So it all boils down to the fact that you two don't want to piss off the girls."

"That too," Scorpius and Jackson replied in unison.

The three boys became silent for a while. Vaisey quietly watched Scorpius and Jackson trade moves, each skillfully taking a piece from the other. It was a half an hour later that Vaisey broke the silence again. "So, anything new happening with you guys?" he asked, hoping for some conversation.

Scorpius was about to respond, but changed his mind when he remembered the secret-keeping charm his father had cast on him an hour after the first of many meetings he had to sit through over the summer. Based on the annoyed look on Jackson's face, Scorpius could tell that he must've had a similar charm cast upon him as well. Naturally, this meant they'd both have to lie about what they did over the summer.

"Oh, you know, private lessons, family obligations, things like that," Scorpius replied dismissively, hoping to divert the conversation away from him as quickly as possible. "You?" he asked Vaisey.

Vaisey's face began to grimace as he responded, "Other than dealing with my idiotic cousin all summer, it went okay."

"What, did Jess finally get caught with all the S.P.E.W nonsense?" Jackson asked curiously.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's more along the lines of him being a self-righteous twat about everything," Vaisey replied irritably. "All he talks about is how wrong it is that we have house elves and how wrong it is that our family supports the Purebloods more than the Mudbloods when we, ourselves, are half-blooded. The list goes on from there," Vaisey continued.

"You'd better hope that none of the Purebloods find out that the heir of the Davies family is a muggleborn sympathizer," Jackson warned him with complete seriousness in his voice.

Vaisey then looked at Jackson nervously. "What do you mean? Jess is the one who'll disgrace the Davies family name, not the Vaiseys," he answered quickly.

Scorpius slowly shook his head and replied, "Doesn't matter. Your mother's maiden name is Davies and you both live within their household. If he gets discovered, _all_ of you go down."

Vaisey slumped back into his chair, as if to absorb the new information he just received. Suddenly, the pub's door opened and Avery and Paavai came walking toward them, looking both tired and relieved. "I hope I'll never have to sing another note for as long as I live!" Avery complained, as she took a seat next to Scorpius while helping herself to a large sip of Butterbeer, not knowing the glass was Scorpius'.

Scorpius lifted an eyebrow and looked at her in amusement. "Enjoying, my drink, Avery?" he asked smoothly.

As the moment of realization set in, Avery immediately began choking on her drink, which certainly didn't help the sore throat she had from singing all day. "Ow!" Avery whined, as she rubbed her throat, trying to massage the soreness away. "Sorry, Scorpius, I didn't know that was your drink. I can get you a new one if you'd like?" Avery asked nervously.

Suddenly, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron walked over to their table and she had a suspicious look on her face. The owner seemed to have an unusually small jaw and she had golden hair that was tied back into a long pony tail. "May I get you kids anything?" she asked politely.

Even though she had asked nicely, Scorpius could detect falseness in her voice. He knew he hadn't heard her speak like that whenever she had dealt with other customers. He could sense that all she truly wanted was for them to leave. So when Scorpius proceeded to order another round of Butterbeers, it thrilled him that much more to see her try, but miserably fail, at hiding the frown that immediately appeared on her face. After hearing Scorpius' order, she quickly turned around and headed back to the bar without another word.

After the owner left, Paavai turned to look at the rest of the group with worried eyes. "Did we do something wrong?" Pavvai whispered from her seat next to Jackson. She had noticed the same insincere actions of the owner that Scorpius had.

"Yeah, what's her deal?" Avery added, as she looked over her shoulder and glared at the owner.

"You ladies remember Professor Longbottom, right?" Scorpius asked the girls, as he took a swig from his glass.

While Paavai just nodded in remembrance, Avery began glaring at the owner more darkly. "Yeah, I remember that fool of a professor. He put me in detention on the same day as the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match last semester," Avery hissed angrily.

"Tell them what you did to get it," Jackson asked nonchalantly and then slowly smirked.

Avery turned to glare at him for a brief moment, but saw the curious look on Scorpius' face. She blushed briefly and immediately confessed, "I…I hexed his _precious_ daughter Stacey with a Tooth-growing spell."

"Avery! That wasn't very nice," Paavai scolded, but tried hard to hold back a laugh, which wasn't a problem for the three boys, who all began laughing immediately.

"How come I didn't hear anything about this?" Scorpius asked, after finally bringing his laughter under control.

"I've often wondered that myself. I didn't hear about it until a week ago," Jackson said sounding somewhat curious.

"And exactly who was it that told _you_, if I may ask?" Avery demanded angrily. Jackson ignored her question completely, but gave her a knowing wink just before he took another sip from his glass.

"Well, anyway, that was his wife, Hannah Longbottom. And the way she's looking at us, I believe that we've been talked about," Scorpius said, as he smirked at the owner, Mrs. Longbottom. She noticed his attitude and responded with a look of annoyance.

At that moment, Vaisey suddenly stood up and his faced darkened immediately. "Michael, are you okay?" Paavai asked, as she cautiously placed a gentle hand on his arm in an effort to calmly bring him back down to his chair.

"Well, look who's here," Vaisey growled through his teeth while his black hair slowly dropped down and nearly covered his eyes.

When Scorpius followed Vaisey's eyes to the pub's entrance, he saw the all-too-familiar red-haired, black-haired and blonde-haired kids walk into the room. Scorpius said coldly, "Well, if it isn't my _favorite_ classmates."

* * *

"Well, if it isn't my favorite classmates," the voice echoed in Rose's head. The moment she heard that familiar hiss she knew immediately which snake had hissed it. "_Why does he have to be here, of all places?" _Rose asked herself.

"What are _you_ doing here, Malfoy?!" Albus demanded angrily.

"We can go anywhere we please, peasant!" Vaisey spat.

" 'ow about you shut up, Vaisey! Eet eez not like your blood eez any different zan ours, despite what you tell yourself at night," Dominique shot back.

At this point, Vaisey and Scorpius now stood no more than a few feet away from Albus, Rose and Dominique. Meanwhile, Avery, Paavai and Jackson stood up and were just a few feet behind Vaisey and Scorpius.

Rose could feel the heat of fury coming off of Albus, as he answered, "No one wants you snakes around. How about you just slither off," he taunted.

"That's it! I'm going to put you in your place, filth!" Vaisey hissed and reached for his wand. Surprisingly, he stopped when he heard Rose _and_ Scorpius both shout, "Stop!"

"You idiot! You can't do magic outside of school until you're seventeen. Do you want us to get us all expelled?!" Rose scolded.

"As usual, the Gryffindor know-it-all is correct. This is neither the time nor the place," Scorpius said, as he turned back and faced the three cousins. "But we _will_ finish this _very_ soon," he threatened.

This time it was Dominique who got in his face. "Eef you sink eet will be easy to take down my family, you 'ave anozzer sing coming, Malfoy!" she spat. Scorpius just stood silently and returned Dominique's green-eyed glare with his own menacing silver eyes. He turned to glare at Rose and Albus, but said nothing. There was a long and intense moment of silence amongst all of them. Rose felt as if all their combined magic created static energy, which caused the air to feel so _very_ heavy.

Suddenly, the silence was abruptly broken when a small, yet, excited voice shouted from behind Rose. "Albus! Rose! Dominique! There you guys are!"

Rose turned around and was surprised to see Lily standing there. "Lily! What are you doing here? Where's Uncle Harry?" Rose asked while looking past Lily to search for her aunt or uncle.

"Daddy's outside and he sent me in here to get..." Lily started to answer, but stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed Scorpius standing in front of her brother. She walked over and stood directly in front of Scorpius, looking up at him with dreamy eyes. "Are you a prince?" Lily asked innocently.

"Lily!" Rose, Albus and Dominique shouted in horror.

While Scorpius looked very amused at the question, it was Avery who practically ran to his side after hearing the little girl's question. She glared down at the little Potter. "Who's the twerp?" Avery asked to no one in particular.

Lily was still standing in front of Scorpius, dreamily staring at him and was patiently waiting for an answer. "Do you think I'm a prince?" Scorpius asked in obvious amusement, as a smirk crossed his face.

Lily giggled and smiled up at him and replied, "Well, you talk all fancy like one and you're handsome like one and...,"

"That's enough of that," Rose interrupted suddenly, grabbed Lily's hand and began pulling her away from the highly-amused Malfoy.

"Well, what do you know? A Potter with sense!" Scorpius laughed mockingly.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Malfoy or I'll do it for you," Albus threatened. He quickly grabbed Lily's hand and they both marched out of the Leaky Cauldron with Dominique following close behind.

Rose was about to make her exit as well, but was stopped when she heard Scorpius speak to her in a personal way. "Don't think you're off the hook for pointing your wand into my neck, Weaselette. You'll live to regret you ever caught my attention," Scorpius said smoothly and menacingly.

Rose quickened her pace and left the Leaky Cauldron while Scorpius stood there and stared after her with a smirk. But it was clear that neither Scorpius nor Rose knew how much these words would ring true in the years ahead.

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**Hay, there, please help me reach my goal and give me your review ;) **


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